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DISCOURSES AND LETTERS 



COMMEMORATIVE OF 



EMILY LANE SMYTH, 



WIFE OF EX-GOY FREDERICK SMYTH. 






" Fold her, O Father, in Thine arms, 
And let her henceforth he 
A messenger of love between 
My human heart and Thee, 
Till glad I hear her welcome voice 
To heaven and home for me." 



MANCHESTER, N. H. 

JOHN E. CLARKE, PRINTER 
l88 5 . 






"i A b s ~v V 



1 ■•. 



VIA SOLITARIA. 



" Alone I walk the peopled city, 

Where each seems happy with his own ; 
O friends ! I ask not for your pity, — 
I walk alone. 

No more for me yon lake rejoices, 

Though moved by loving airs of June ; 
O birds ! your sweet and piping voices 
Are out of tune. 

In vain for me the elm-tree arches 

Its plumes in many a feathery spray ; 
In vain the evening's starry marches 
And sunlit day. 

In vain your beauty, summer flowers ; 
Ye cannot greet those cordial eyes ; 
They gaze on other fields than ours, — 
On other skies. 

The gold is rifled from the coffer, 

The blade is stolen from the sheath ; 
Life has but one more boon to offer, 
And that is — Death. 

Yet well I know the voice of duty, 

And therefore life and health must crave, 
Though she who gave the world its beauty 
Is in her grave. 



11 



For life to me is as a station 

Wherein, apart, a traveler stands, — 
One absent long from home and nation, 
In other lands. 

And I as he who stands and listens, 

Amid the twilight's chill and gloom, 
To hear, approaching in the distance, 
The train for home. 

For death shall bring another mating. 

Beyond the shadows of the tomb; 
On yonder shore a bride is waiting 
Until I come. 

Thou, then, the longing heart that breakest, 

Stealing the treasures one by one, 
I'll call thee blessed when thou makest 
The parted one." 



A MEMORIAL. 



The subject of this memorial, Emily (Lane) Smyth, 
was born in Canclia, !N". H., July 22, 1822, the fifth of a 
family of six, one brother and five sisters. She was the 
daughter of John Lane and Nabby (Emerson) Lane, and 
grand-daughter of Col. Nathaniel Emerson, who served 
under Stark at Bennington. Her father was a prominent 
man of affairs in town, justice of the peace, surveyor, 
representative in the state legislature, general legal ad- 
viser, a man of most kindly disposition, and fine, gentle- 
manly demeanor. The mother, in her later years an 
invalid, Avas a lady of quiet tastes and admirable discre- 
tion, full of that wisdom so needful in the administration 
of the household. The atmosphere of intelligence and 
the firm but gentle training of this Christian home had 
much to do with the character of Mrs. Smyth. 

Richard Emerson Lane, the first-born of the family, 
graduated at Dartmouth in 1841, and died suddenly at 
Lewiston, N". Y., in 1842, where he was teaching. The 
survivors are Sarah Tilton, Mrs. Warren S. Childs, of 



Henniker, Hannah Godfrey, Mrs. Henry M. Eaton, of 
Candia, Abby Emerson, wife of the late Richard H. Page, 
of Candia, and Lucretia, Mrs. Francis B. Eaton, of Man- 
chester. 

Mrs. Smyth was a bright and ready scholar in the 
common schools of her native district, — at that time thor- 
oughly good so far as they went, — and in the town high 
school, usually taught by college graduates. She took 
an after-course in a young ladies' seminary at Charles- 
town, Mass., and was for several terms thereafter a teacher 
in Manchester and in other places, and in this capacity 
she was as highly appreciated and as much beloved in 
the days of her youth as in after-times and in wider 
spheres. 

She was married to Frederick Smyth, December 11, 
1844, and thenceforth she became one with her husband. 
There was nothing needful to be done in her new home 
in Manchester that she did not know how to do and to 
do well, and she felt it a disgrace to sit with folded hands 
while her companion pushed his fortunes alone. But to 
be a shining example of all the domestic virtues was by 
no means the extent of her endowment. Her father's 
knowledge of public affairs made her acquainted with the 
details of business, the city clerk and the bank cashier 



could call on her for aid when needful, while her personal 
beauty, the rare charm of her conversation, and the win- 
ning ease of her manner everywhere made friends. So 
time passed, and for the most part, or all but about two 
years of her long and happy wedded life, she was blessed 
with excellent health, and from first to last, in the cottage 
on Merrimack square, or in the governor's mansion at 
" The WilloAvs," her graces seemed but the spontaneous 
overflow of a sunny and genial nature, worn, indeed, with 
a dignity that commanded respect, but touched with no 
tinge of hauteur. And what shall I say of the delights 
of the home, of those traits which made the place a 
heaven on earth? 

With her husband she had grown up side by side ; he 
was one of her nearest neighbors and her schoolmate, 
and so, when joined by the tie of wedlock, her feelings, 
her thoughts, and ambitions were wholly in unison with 
his, and out of this grew a beautiful circumstance, — too 
rare, indeed, in this busy age. ~No two people in public 
or in private were so constantly together. The lodge or 
the smoking-room never drew him from her side ; with- 
out her he was never seen at the play, the concert, or the 
lecture, and on their travels, people noting the odd fact 
of a gentleman thoroughly devoted to his wife have con- 
cluded them to be newly married. 



6 

She delighted in the country drives about Manchester, 
and day after day, in all inviting seasons, through new- 
cut roads or grass-grown ways, they were often met as 
evening drew on seeking health and the purest pleasure. 
Mrs. Smyth had a passionate love for wild flowers ; she 
knew their secret haunts, and she brought home from 
her journeys seeds out of the wonderful natural gardens 
of other lands and planted at " The Willows." As she loved 
flowers, and as she cared for birds and the nests about 
her place, so was she very sweet and gracious in her 
manner to little children. Of the trees and the shrubs, 
the very hedge-rows about the place, it may be said that 
they were personal friends ; she saw them set, and watched 
with loving interest over their growth. When her hus- 
band, wearied with intense application to business, came 
home, her foot was first upon the lawn, her carol greeted 
him at the open door with never-tiring freshness. 

In the course of her husband's public life she was called 
on to entertain as guests some among the most distin- 
guished people of the United States, — Chief- Justice Chase, 
Chief-Justice Waite and family, President Hayes and 
wife, the wife and daughter of Gen. Grant, Vice-Presi- 
dents Hamlin and Colfax, Henry Ward Beecher and 
wife, Gens. Butler, Martindale, and Chamberlain, Post- 



master-General Key, Judge Bond of the United States 
circuit court, Hon. W. M. Evarts, Mrs. Mary A. Liver- 
more ; and it was her delight to welcome to her home for 
a brief rest that hard-working, eloquent native Greek 
missionary, with his efficient helper and wife, the Rev. 
George Constantine, of Smyrna. One of the most nota- 
ble events immediately preceding her fatal illness was the 
reception tendered by ex-Gov. Smyth to the Republican 
candidate for the presidency, the Hon. James G. Blaine. 

Adept as she was in the art of making a pleasant 
home, she was always ready at a moment's notice to 
accompany her husband on his numerous excursions, and 
he rarely left home without her. In this manner she 
became widely familiar with our own country, journeying 
frequently west and south, to the Canadas and California, 
and later to Mexico and Cuba. In 1878 Mr. and Mrs. Smyth 
went abroad, visiting points of interest in England and 
Scotland, and after a week in Paris went via Egypt to the 
Holy Land. At that time they visited Smyrna, Constan- 
tinople, and Athens, returning to Paris by way of Naples, 
through Rome, Florence, Venice, and Milan, with a brief 
stop in Switzerland. After some needed rest in Paris, 
they came home via Dublin, Edinburgh, and London. 
Four years later, while revisiting many of the places 



8 

above named, they made a more extended tour of the 
Holy Land, went through Spain to Gibraltar, and to Tan- 
giers on the African coast, made the voyage up the Nile, 
visited Damascus and Baalbec, and from Constantinople 
crossed the Black Sea to Varna, went through Roumania, 
Bulgaria, and Hungary down the valley of the Danube 
to Vienna, and back to Paris via Munich and Strasbourg. 
After a few months' rest at home Mrs. Smyth seemed 
in unusually good health and spirits, and often narrated 
in the company of the friends she loved many interesting 
incidents of her journey. 

In the summer of 1884 she was not feeling quite as 
well as heretofore, and in the hot days that followed in 
the early September was attacked by a sudden indisposi- 
tion which seemed to threaten paralysis. She, however, 
partially recovered under the care of her attending physi- 
cian, Dr. Thomas "Wheat, and some weeks later consulted 
Dr. William A. Hammond in New York city. Some- 
what benefited she returned home, but soon experienced 
a relapse and was confined to her room. Her physician 
and friends, however, were hopeful of her recovery. 
Later in the case Dr. John L. Robinson was called in 
consultation, and Dr. Hammond summoned from New 
York. Her malady was then pronounced to be Bright' s 
disease, and while no hope was given of a permanent 



9 

cure, it was thought she might get about and enjoy yet 
even some years of comfortable health. For some days 
the indications were favorable, and then she grew speedily 
worse. Again Dr. Hammond came, this time only to 
confirm the fears of her friends and the opinion of her 
attending physicians. She saw and remarked on the 
anxious faces about her, and divined the worst. She was 
very calm, and she alone of all the sad group could smile 
and speak in her old cheery way. On that same day, 
Saturday, January the 10th, after conversation with her 
pastor, the Rev. Dr. Spalding, she was received into the 
membership of the Franklin-street church. On Sunday 
she was perfectly clear in her mind, conversing much 
and identifying, as her husband read to her from the 
Scriptures, localities they had visited together in the Holy 
Land. 

During the days that remained she was slightly wan- 
dering, but greeted her friends in frequent lucid intervals 
with her old charming smile, was solicitous about the 
trouble to which she was putting her devoted husband 
and sisters and faithful nurses, and so courteous, kindly, 
Ohristlike to the very last, on the 14th day of January, 
1885, about ten in the morning, passed on up the shining 
way to the ISTew Jerusalem. 

F. B. EATOK 



10 

The funeral services took place on Sunday, January 
the 18th. Prayer was offered at the house by the pastor, 
the Rev. George B. Spalding, D. D., and a hymn sung 
by the Franklin-street quartet. As the cortege passed to 
the church, the chimes, which were presented to the 
society by ex-Gov. and Mrs. Smyth, rang PleyeFs Hymn, 
Bethany, Mount Vernon, Naomi, and other airs in keep- 
ing with the occasion. 

At the church the order of service was as follows : — 

Organ Prelude. 
Singing — " Come, ye disconsolate, where're ye languish." 
Scripture Reading from 1 Corinthians, xv. 1-55. 

Prayer. 
Singing — "Come unto Me when shadows darkly gather." — Tune of 

Henley. 
Discourse by Rev. George B. Spalding, D. D. 
Hymn — " Softly now the light of day 

Fades upon my sight away." — Tune of Flolley. 
Remarks and Benediction by the Rev. C. W. Wallace, D. D. 

The spacious church was filled to its utmost capacity, 
and hundreds were unable to find entrance. Friends 
w T ere present from Concord, Portsmouth, and other 
places, and thousands availed themselves of the opportu- 
nity to look for the last time on the face, regnant and 
beautiful even in death, of her they had known and 
loved so well. 



DISCOURSE. 

BY THE REV. GEORGE B. SPALDING, D. D. 

1 Cor. xv. 55. — "0 Death, where is thy sting? 
Grave, where is thy victory?" 

This song of triumph is the echo of the angel's voice 
which years before had been heard in the garden by the 
rocky tomb : " He is not here, but is risen." That scene 
of sorrow in which Mary and the disciples mingled was 
at once transformed into a scene of gladness. The wail- 
ing cries of broken hearts gave way to exultant shouts. 
" The Lord is risen indeed ! " " The Lord is risen indeed ! " 
The garden bloomed again. The stern, rocky grave was 
buried beneath its flowers. Joy filled all hearts. Death 
at last had been conquered. Their Lord was henceforth 
" the Prince of Life." And by His resurrection these, 
His disciples, conquered death. They who, like all man- 
kind, through fear of death had all their life been subject 
to bondage, were now forever delivered. One after an- 
other they died ; but the King of Terrors had no terror 
for them. The survivors bore their loved companions 



12 

one by one to the grave, but the grave was radiant with 
heavenly hope. Though there was a tender sorrow at 
every remembrance of James's virtues and cruel death, 
and of Stephen's heroism and shining faith, yet their 
believing friends, all unmoved by the tragic scene, always 
spoke of them as " fallen asleep in Christ." 

Years went by. The name of Christ had penetrated 
into new countries, among men of foreign birth and faith. 
It had crossed the Mediterranean, and drawn to it a clus- 
ter of believing men and women in the city of Corinth, 
where, beyond any city of the times, luxury and sensu- 
ality, stimulated by the gambling spirit of commercial 
life, rankly grew and nourished. Men, women, and chil- 
dren died out of this little number of Christ's followers 
as died those of other classes in the great city. House- 
holds were broken as well among the members of the 
little church as among the eager merchants who kept the 
streets, ports, and seas busy with their enterprise, or 
among the gay revelers who with that recklessness begot- 
ten of skepticism challenged each other to some fresh 
excess, with the cry: " Let us eat and drink, for to-mor- 
row we die." Everywhere in that splendid city, in every 
street, in every circle of life, children, youth, beauty, 
strength, manhood, all alike owned the power of death 



13 

and yielded to his inexorable sway. But to these Chris- 
tian believers, in their hour of bereavement, in the shad- 
ow of death, in their farewells to the dying, by the closed 
tomb, amidst tears of fond remembrance and feelings of 
mightiest loss, the scene of the blooming garden, and the 
vacant sepulcher, and the risen Christ, and the glad dis- 
ciples renewed itself. The shout of triumph heard from 
angels' lips, and caught up by Mary and the disciples, 
was again repeated with the same exultant cadence. In 
the face of death, before the open grave, above the recum- 
bent forms of their loved ones, these followers of the first 
disciples sang their triumphant song, " Death, where 
is thy sting ? Grave, where is thy victory ? " It stands 
as among the clearest facts in history, as a veritable ele- 
ment in human experience, that all through the ages 
since, death has put on for a large part of the human race 
an altogether new aspect. Since Christ died and rose 
again, the afflictions of humanity have changed their 
character. Sorrow is not what it was before He came. 
Death is not what it was since He slept in the grave. 
The grave is not what it was since He ascended. Sepa- 
rations are not what they were since he opened to men's 
eyes the " Father's house," and brought so consciously 
near " the whole family in heaven and earth." 



14 

This feeling of lofty cheer manifested itself in the 
funeral rites of the early helievers. The procession to 
the grave was one of triumph. Those who took part in 
it carried in their hands branches, not of the gloomy 
cypress as did the Greeks and Romans, bnt of palm and 
olive, as of those who celebrate a victory. Leaves of the 
evergreen laurel and ivy were placed upon the bosom of 
the dead, a token of immortal hope. The nearest friends 
carried lighted lamps or torches. The procession did not 
move forward in silence but with chants aud hymns. 
Believers in Christ left to the Romans the use of black 
apparel, and to the Jews ashes and rent garments. They 
clothed themselves in purest white. 

So, always since, in times, and among believers of larg- 
est faith, the gloom and despondency which death brings 
to the heart when left to itself have given way to feelings ot 
thankfulness and victorious hope. They have been able 
in all their tears over the dead, and in all their own near- 
ness to death, to exclaim, " O Death, where is thy sting ? 
Grave, where is thy victory ? " 

It is among such joyous and § triumphant feelings as 
these that I approach the subject that is more immedi- 
ately in your thoughts. 

The contemplation of such a noble life as has here 



15 

come to its earthly end, — the analysis of a character in 
which met so many admirable qualities, ought to be 
attended with feelings of supreme comfort ; nay, more, 
of elation and triumph ; for death, in all the desolation 
and loss that he has here accomplished, has not here con- 
quered. The victory is hers, whose faith took hold upon 
Christ, whose life was suffused with His grace, and whose 
virtues were such that death must needs glorify them, and 
open to them in another existence a larger sphere for their 
freest exercise. 

An illustrious French writer has said that it is the 
most felicitous of all things to be born well. In this re- 
spect we may count Mrs. Smyth as most happy ; for she 
whom we had come to admire as in the highest sense a 
typical New England woman, was born into the best 
New England influences. 

There was, first, the New England Home : the mother, 
amiable in character, tender and faithful in her endless 
ministry ; the father, the most distinguished man in 
the town, the counselor for a wide neighborhood, jus- 
tice of the peace, land-surveyor, representative to the 
general court, a man who was deeply interested in the 
education of the young, himself an old teacher, who 
owned the most shares in the village circulating library, 



16 

and who introduced the largest part of its well selected 
books into his own family; a man, unlike most ISTew 
England fathers of his time, who ruled his household 
with love, and entered with sympathy and keenest zest 
into the life of the youngest; and withal a deeply religious 
man according to the Old Testament type, reverential, 
devout, conscientious, full of the solemnities, obligations, 
and fidelities of religion. It was a happy household, 
where the members were knit together by a common 
service and sacrifice, a common dependence and helpful- 
ness, — where the two mightiest forces that can mold 
character, human love and religious feeling, were ever 
present. Among such influences was this one born and 
nurtured, and so she grew to be a girl of uncommon 
beauty of person and spirit. 

And there was the New England District School, where 
she was for the most part educated. Here, in our coun- 
try, there has been no better method for the development 
of mind and character to meet the relations of life. The 
district school " number two," " the meeting-house dis- 
trict " at Candia, was among the very best. Because the 
wealth of the town was mostly centered there, the school 
year for the children was the longest, and the teachers 
were most often uncler-graduates of the college. The 



17 

few months spent at the seminary at Charlestown, Mass., 
gave a grace and finish to the girl's mind and manners, 
but those broad, popular sympathies, and democratic 
principles and impulses which so grandly characterized 
the woman through every successive stage of her brilliant 
career, were fostered and strengthened in the common 
school. 

And besides the New England Home and the New 
England School, was the New England Church, which 
last added its powerful influence to shape this life to its 
great uses, and to develop in this character its mingled 
strengths and graces. The country church of half a cen- 
tury ago was the center of intellectual and social as well 
as spiritual life. The doctrines preached from the pulpit 
were strong and distinct, full of solemnity and alarm. 
Religion, as it impressed itself upon the consciences and 
fears of men and women, was a deeply serious and awful 
thing. This impression has been seen in the life-long 
views of her who has gone from us, not affecting so much 
her life and character as her opinions and feelings in 
respect to her own relations to the church. The momen- 
tous nature of a public confession of Christ, or, as the act 
was formerly designated, "a profession of religion," 
wrought in her utmost self-distrust and sore timidity 



18 

whenever she attempted, as many times she did, to as- 
sume this duty, a sense of which was always with her. 
It was only by a supreme effort to overcome the shrink- 
ing feelings implanted in her very soul in her early youth 
that she was at last enabled, with peace and comfort, to 
enter into an outward union with Christ in His church. 
But her earlier religious training did not fail to work out 
in her happier results. It gave to her an unfailing de- 
voutness in the whole temper of her soul, filling her with 
great reverence, and holding her through all the experi- 
ences of her public life sensitively conscientious in word 
and action, and rigorously observant of religious form 
and service. The prayer- meetings of her younger days, 
with their solemn voices of beseeching, and their sweet 
songs, never were forgotten by her. The old tunes, the 
old hymns, she sang them through all the twilight hours 
of her life. Her soft sweet voice echoes through the 
evenings at home, and will echo while there are hearts 
there to weep, and rejoice over a blessed, happy past. 

There was needed only one other experience to crown 
this young life, and to equip this so richly endowed na- 
ture for its noble career. At the early age of eighteen 
Mrs. Smyth became a teacher in the common school. 
She taught in her native town and in Chester, and her& 



19 

in Manchester. She was highly successful in this most 
important service, and it was an education in itself, devel- 
oping that superb self-control, and that quiet but master- 
ing control of others, that independence and self-reliance 
which entered so largely into her after life. 

At twenty-two years of age she was married and began 
her life in Manchester, which has been continued through 
these forty years. I need not trace its outward events r 
nor speak in detail of those unusual circumstances which 
have served to make her name and position conspicuous 
in the public estimation. I only want to set forth anew 
the always needed lesson of life. Here, forty years ago,, 
began a true marriage union, in humble circumstances 
at first, but hand joined to hand, and heart to heart, and 
lives blending into perfect unity, in oneness of struggle, 
oneness of aim, rising together by mutual help through 
the long years into stage after stage of success, of pros- 
perity, of high official honor, of distinguished public 
service, until a great number in the state and outside the 
state have looked upon it with praise and admiration. 
How much her calm, strong judgment, womanly wit, and 
winning, popular address and unfailing inspiration of hope 
and love have helped to this success, none so largely and 
thankfully acknowledges as the one who mourns her 
most to-day. 



20 

In my analysis of the influence one exerts upon others, 
something certainly is to be made of personal appearance, 
of outward manner. As Virgil long ago sang, " Even 
virtue is more fair when it appears in a beautiful person." 
How much the goodness and kindness of this heart 
strengthened their power over us by the outward grace 
of feature, the majesty of form, and the charm of man- 
ners, none of us can tell, although we all felt these. In 
her very unconsciousness of all this was the secret of her 
power. Everything about her was so full of simplicity, 
so natural, so altogether free from the artificial, the for- 
mal, the conventional. Under all beat a loving heart, 
full of sympathies, prompting her to constant ministra- 
tions to the poor, the unfortunate, and all in suffering. 
Her warmest friends were the poor, for in her own dear 
way she so gave to them that they felt she was a friend 
and not a patron, — somehow one of them. I count it 
the noblest thing in this true woman that as she rose 
from stage to stage in social position until she stood at 
the highest, she carried up with her all the associations, 
friendships, and sympathies which were with her at the 
first. From her social queenship she could go back to 
her native town, and the sweetness and simplicity of her 
girlhood were "still with her, and old friends .and new 



21 

friends rejoiced in her presence. There was no hauteur, 
no exclusiveness, no self-consciousness, betraying her into 
silly speech or forbidding manner. She provoked no 
jealousy. She created no envy, — only the emulation of 
all noble hearts to be like her in the sincerity of her soul, 
the sweetness of her charity, and the graciousness of her 
life. Nature had done much for her outwardly and 
within. Her temperament was warm but free from pas- 
sion. She held herself with a surprising evenness. Noth- 
ing could fret her into a violent assertion. She was always 
sunny and cheerful, and it was her very nature to ray forth 
good feeling into the very lives of those who met her. 
She was above all accusation in her talk of others. She 
could not stoop to that gossip that with such a reckless 
judgment slays the reputation of half a neighborhood. 
"Who can recall a bitter word of hers ? She had that 
charity of speech that would cover a multitude of sins. 
There are women of great character, and it may be 
utmost worth, who in this or that quality rise before us 
in their superiority. Here is one radiant in beauty, daz- 
zling by the display of elegance in all external qualities ; 
here is another of keenest intellectual wit, whose brilliant 
sayings fill us with admiration or fear; here is another, 
whose attainments in knowledge or arts make her name 



22 

famous ; here is still another, whose whole life and char- 
acter find their expression in a self-absorbed devotion to 
some noble object. But she who rises before my vision 
to-day surpassed these different types, each superior in its 
own way, in that she combined in herself so many excel- 
lences, blending so harmoniously charm of manner, 
majesty of person, strong judgment, utmost good sense, 
warm sympathies, truest humility and sincerity, religious 
reverence, faith and love, — blending all these so as to 
make more conspicuous than any gift or grace she pos- 
sessed that complete womanhood, which is the best gift of 
heaven to earth. Such was the poet's high ideal. 

" I saw her upon nearer view, 
A spirit, yet a woman too ! 



A creature not too bright or good 
For human nature's daily food. 



A perfect woman, nobly plann'd 
To warn, to comfort, and command ; 
And yet a spirit still, and bright, 
With something of an angel-light." 

There are two thoughts which we may well carry forth 
into all the life that may yet remain to each of us. First, 



23 

a grateful sense of God's goodness, in giving to us such a 
character and life as we have been contemplating. It 
has been passed here in this community, in this church, 
in our homes, in the home where most it revealed itself. 
It has blessed and cheered, it has comforted and inspired 
a great number ; the sympathies and affections of 
this heart have strengthened many of you. The sun- 
shine of this face has fallen upon many of you. The 
help of these hands has been felt by many of you. The 
graciousness of this life has sweetened many a bitter ex- 
perience of yours. Here is much to be thankful to God 
for. Let not a sense of present loss, or an apprehension 
of future loneliness, make you forget the many years in 
which God has made the blessings of such a life continue 
with you. God was in this nature. He created it, and 
He developed and sanctified it by His discipline and grace, 
and He has made its strength and beauty to pass before 
your eyes, to inspire, rejoice, and comfort you. To His 
name be praise even from your broken hearts. 

And the second thought is that of the inspiration of 
such a life. The more we look into this character the 
more clearly shall we see that its real force and influence 
were in its spiritual qualities. Take away the personal 
charm of face,, form, and manners, there would still 



24 

remain love, fidelity, charity, religious principle, faith, 
and reverence. Take away all the outward conditions 
of material prosperity and social rank, and these spiritual 
elements would abide. Her goodness, her sweetness, 
her sympathies, her devoutness, were hers, hack in the 
days of struggle and sacrifice. These were the sources 
of her influence and the elements of her nobility then as 
ever afterwards. And these exist to-day. They outlive 
life ; they take hold upon eternity. The outward form 
so beautiful, — the grave will hold and despoil that; but 
the real self, those invisible spiritualities which made up 
her character and drew our love, and made her such a 
blessing, death has not touched, the grave cannot hold. 
From the upper heavens I hear, as it were, her glorified 
self saying to us amidst this scene of death and sorrow, 
and over the grave where we shall place her — saying, in 
clear exultant tones, " O Death, where is thy sting ? O 
Grave, where is thy victory ? Thanks be unto God which 
hath given to me the victory through my Lord Jesus 
Christ." 



REMARKS. 

BY THE REV. C. W. WALLACE, D. D. 

Dr. Wallace having been introduced as the early pastor 
of the deceased, said that he desired to utter briefly a few 
sentiments regarding the loss of one he had known for 
many years, and spoke substantially as follows : — 

I remember, and it was seemingly but the other day, 
when a young man and his young bride came into my 
congregation and took seats on the broad aisle. They 
were reverent and attentive listeners. I took notice of 
their early struggles up and on, as they set about accom- 
plishing the work appointed them to do. I saw how 
easily and with what completeness their aims were 
blended into one, and how well she did her part in what- 
ever position her husband attained. 

Coming from her country home she never seemed to 
make any effort to reach what are sometimes called the 
higher circles of society, and yet when there she fell into 
her place as naturally as though it were hers by right. 
She felt that she could afford to be social and courteous 



26 

in all places. I remember calling upon Mrs. Smyth 
shortly after she moved into her new home at " The Wil- 
lows" ; she showed me all about, took me into the cham- 
bers to see the outward views of varied and beautiful 
landscape which each commanded. I admired things 
without and within ; everything was surpassingly harmo- 
nious and in good taste, and as I was about to come away 
I remarked : " This is beautiful. This is good enough 
till you reach that house not made with hands." She 
made no answer in words, but her countenance expressed 
an eloquent response to my suggestion. 

She had much to live for. With rare natural gifts, an 
abundance had been bestowed upon her; everyone 
looked upon and admired her. Doubtless there are 
women who from smaller circles would be as greatly 
missed. Hers was a wider sphere ; more eyes were upon 
her ; and yet none had aught to say against her. 

This beautiful person when she felt the hand of death 
approach looked not to the east nor to the west but above, 
to Him who said, " He who believeth on Me shall never 
die." To us here there has come a great sadness ; her 
form is here, but she has gone. Everyone feels a per- 
sonal share in the loss which has befallen us. But it is 
only for a brief time. I look out. It is winter time. 



27 

God has sheeted the earth with a mantle of snow, em- 
blematical of the pure life which has just departed. It 
seems hard to lay her away in the cold ground; hut 
reflect, my friends ; she whom you loved is not there in 
that coffin ; she has gone upward to a better region, and 
out of this thought comes a blessing for all. "We are 
here only a short time. We are birds of passage, and soon 
go beyond, to that region whither we are all traveling. 



LETTERS. 

Portsmouth, January 14, 1885. 
My Dear Sir : — 

Please receive the assurance of my heartfelt sympathy 
in your bereavement. The departure of so excellent a 
woman as Mrs. Smyth is a public loss, and while the 
hearts of your friends everywhere are filled with sadness 
at this dispensation, there is breathed a prayer that you 
may be strengthened and sustained in this hour of your 
great affliction. 

With very kind regard, 

Your friend, 
WILLIAM H. HACKETT. 

(Clerk U. S. Court.) 

Hon. Frederick Smyth, Manchester. 



Amherst, January 14, 1885. 
My Ever Dear Friend : — 

And now the windows of your house are darkening. 
I know all what it means, having felt the same ; and from 
my loneliness of years hasten to express to you my tender 
sympathy in your great loss, — a loss so great and a bur- 



30 

den so heavy to be borne that naught but the grace of 
God can sustain you, — and to that, with all my heart, I 
commend you, with the earnest prayer to Heaven that 
you may be abundantly " comforted with the comfort 
wherewith we have been comforted of God." God is. 
faithful who hath promised, and will as surely fulfill. 

Yours in Christ, 
(And surely that means sympathy and love), 

E. D. BOYLSTOK 



Englewood, N. J., January 14, 1885. 
Dear Friend : — 

I am filled with dismay and grief at the thought of 
your sorrow. How I do wish I could comfort you. Be- 
lieve me, I do pray for you with all my heart and strength, 
and I know God will sustain you. Remember it is only 
for a little time — the years slip away so quickly — when 
we will all meet again, purified, chastened, and godlike. 
How my heart aches for you ! It is well with Emma. 
It would be selfish and unkind to ask her to forego the 
heavenly pleasures which await her release from the pain 
of earthly existence. I only hope that her suffering may 
not be long, or that she may be happily unconscious of it. 
Poor dear friend, in spirit I walk with you. * * * 
Kiss dear Emma for me. How little I dreamed of this 
when we last met. I remember yet her hearty laugh ; it 
sounded so like her old self that I nearly forgot my fears.. 



31 

Dear friend, I know my words seem idle, empty sound. 
It must be so for a time, but, happily, God has arranged 
that our afflictions grow into tender memories. So will 
yours, though you cannot now so believe. 

May God help you is the prayer of your friend, 

Mrs. JULIA DIOTCAK 



(Telegram.) 

Boston, January 14, 1885. 
Hon. Frederick Smyth, — 

My Dear Governor: — Allow me to tender to you in 
this hour of your bereavement my sincere sympathy and 
condolence for the very great loss you have sustained in 
the removal from this world of one whose cheerful words 
and pleasant smiles have made life to you a joy. 

J. W. JOH^SOK 



Portsmouth, January 15, 1885. 
My Dear Governor : — 

We grieve with you over the dea/th of dear Mrs. Smyth. 
My heart bleeds for you in your desolation. I hoped 
until the last that we might hear of such improvement in 
her condition that she might be spared a long time, and 
that I should see her a good many times. 

I spent a very delightful afternoon with her at your 
house last July, and since she bade me good-bye at the 



32 

horse-car I have not seen but have thought of her a great 
deal in her sickness. I am grateful for the friendship 
and acquaintance of so noble and lovely a woman. 

But now she has gone to swell the number of the 
blessed, leaving behind many aching, loving hearts, but 
also many sweet memories and loving deeds to gladden 
the clays that are left her loved ones. May He who 
knows your sorrow and who cares for you as none other 
can, keep you in his love and bring you purified into the 
bliss of the redeemed, is the prayer of 

Your long-time friend, 

Mrs. AARON YOUNG. 



(Telegram.) 

Concord, N. H., January 15, 1885. 
Ex- Gov. Frederick Smyth : — 

My deepest sympathy. Beloved in life, death embalms 
her memory in all hearts. 

J. E. PECKER. 



Concord, N. H., January 15, 1885. 
My Dear Governor : — 

Through all the first weeks of anxiety, I had hoped 
that you might not be called upon to pass through the 
same sorrow that came to me. God in His wisdom has 
decreed otherwise, and your consolation must be that our 



33 

loss is her gain, and in the remembrance of her lovely 
and noble life. May our Heavenly Father, give you 
strength to carry you through this severe affliction. 
With my warmest sympathy, I am 

Your sincere friend, 

J. H. PEARSON. 
Hon. Frederick Smyth, Manchester. 



Dover, 1ST. H., January 15, 1885. 
Dear Sir : — 

I read with much pain of the death of your excellent 
wife, and just write a word to express my deepest sympa- 
thy, though I know that at such times words are but 
empty things. < When we say that she was a thoroughly 
good woman, and most thoroughly loved by those who 
knew her best, we but give expression to the heart-felt 
conviction of all who knew her character and worth. I 
shall always remember with pleasure your words and acts 
of kindness to me, both while acting chaplain at the Sol- 
diers' Home at Augusta, Me., and while a pastor at Man- 
chester. May God bless and sustain you in this hour of 
affliction. With warmest affection, 

I remain your humble servant, 

H. F. WOOD. 

(Pastor Baptist Church.) 



34 

Epping, January 15, 1885. 
Hon. Frederick Smyth, — 

My Dear Friend : — Mrs. Prescott and I read with the 
deepest sorrow yesterday of the death of Mrs. Smyth, and 
we convey to you our sympathy in this sad bereavement. 
"We knew of her illness, but did not know her condition 
was so critical. She was always a warm friend to us, and 
we both feel that we have lost one of our best friends who 
always took a lively interest in our prosperity. 

Again, my dear governor, allow us to express our 
strongest sympathy. 

Very sincerely, 

B. F. PEESCOTT. 

(Ex-Go v.) 



Concord, N. H., January 15, 1885. 
My Dear Sir : — 

I have just heard of your sad affliction, and trust you 
will not think it an intrusion at this time, which must be 
so sorrowful for you, if I venture to write to you a few 
lines of sympathy. 

A kind, dear woman was your dear wife. "In her 
tongue was the law of kindness." I have said to myself 
as I have thought of her to-day, " She was always so kind 
and dear a friend to my dear wife, who has gone before 
her, and who loved her so much." I feel most sincerely 
grieved to think you should have to bear so terrible a 



35 

loss, and am certain that the entire community shares my 
own feeling ; for when one so conspicuous for only good 
deeds and charitable labor, and so noted withal for her 
Christian virtue, is taken from our midst, the loss is in 
one sense a public one. But I know how little any poor 
words of mine will avail to comfort you, but at this time 
didn't wish to be thought lacking in sympathy for you. 

Faithfully yours, 

S. C. EASTMAN. 



Laconia, January 15, 1885. 
Hon. Frederick Smyth, — 

My Dear Sir : — I had but just written to a friend with 
reference to the death of his wife, when I took up a news- 
paper and read a notice of the death of Mrs. Smyth. I 
hasten to tender my sympathy and that of Mrs. Hibbard, 
on account of your great bereavement. We had heard 
of her serious illness, but were hoping that her life might 
be spared and her health restored. 

Very truly yours, 

E. A. HIBBARD. 

(Ex-Judge Supreme Court.) 



(Telegram from New York.) 
You have our deepest sympathy. 

(Mrs.) LAURA A. and DOUGLASS GREEK 



36 

88 Pleasant street, Concord, IS". H., 

January 15, 1885. 
My Dear Gov. Smyth : — 

I am deeply pained to learn of the death of dear Mrs. 
Smyth. I have been anxiously hoping for favorable news 
during these past weeks of suspense. I have lost an old 
and valued friend, and one more tie connected with the 
happy years of my life is broken. Your wife has always 
been my ideal of perfect womanhood, and was held in 
high esteem by Mr. Warde. I cannot refrain from tell- 
ing you of my own sorrow in her loss, and heart-felt 
sympathy for you in these dark hours of bereavement. 

May the loving Father comfort and help you to endure 
this blow from His chastening hand. 

Very sincerely yours, 

(Mrs.) M. C. WAKDE. 



Concord, January 15, 1885. 
My Dear Sir and Brother : — 

It was with deep sadness that I read, " Mrs. Smyth, 
the dearly beloved wife of ex-Gov. Smyth, is dead." I 
know that no words of mine can do anything to relieve 
the great sorrow that has come upon you, but I do most 
deeply sympathize with you, my dear brother, and most 
heartily do I pray that He who rules above may uphold 
you in this trying hour. 

Courteously and fraternally yours, 

J. FRA^K WEBSTEE. 



37 

Manchester, January 15, 1885. 
My Dear Governor : — 

I cannot refrain from offering you my tenclerest pity 
and heartfelt sympathy, deepened and strengthened by 
over forty years of continued friendship. May our Heav- 
enly Father give you the consolation of our holy religion, 
and with His love soften and help you bear this terrible 
grief and affliction. With tenderest regards, 

Very sincerely yours, 

Mrs. W. B. WEBSTER. 



Young's Hotel, Boston, Mass., 
January 16, 1885. 
My Dear Governor : — 

I am sure very many feel that they share with you the 
great loss you now sustain. You have my sincerest sym- 
pathy, and deeply do I regret that your noble wife could 
no longer have been spared to you and her numberless 
friends. 

Very respectfully yours, 

CHARLES W. LIYERMORE. 



Mr. Smyth, — 

Dear Sir : — I have but just heard of your sad bereave- 
ment, and I want to tell you how sorry I am, and how 
much I sympathize with you in your great sorrow. I 
cannot realize that she has passed from us. Though I 



38 

had heard ot her illness, I also heard she was recovering, 
and hoped it was so until I heard of her death. It seems 
so hard one should be taken who had so much to live 
for and everything to make her happy. Oh, why should 
those be taken that are most needed, and others left that 
would be glad to go ! Such things are hard for me to 
understand, but it will all be made plain sometime, and 
though it is hard to see the light now, we know it is but 
a short time at the most when we shall meet those we 
love in another world. She will be missed everywhere, 
for she was a lady highly esteemed and loved by all who 
knew her. To me she was the perfection of womanhood ; 
and, although our acquaintance was slight, I shall never 
forget her. 

I wish I could say something that would help you. I 
know how hard it must be for you to be reconciled to 
her loss, but I think it must be some consolation to look 
back upon such a happy married life as yours has been, 
and the many happy years you have enjoyed together. 
That makes it seem all the harder to bear at first, but in 
after years it will be a great consolation to look back and 
think of that happiness and feel that there is nothing to 
regret, that you were all in all to each other while she 
was spared you. 

It all seems dark now, but the light must come, and 
the sorrow will be easier to bear. 

Yours respectfully, 

ADDIE I. AMES. 

447 Shawmut avenue, Wednesday, a. m. 



39 

Dartmouth College, Hanover, 
January 16, 1885. 
Hon. Frederick Smyth, — 

My Dear Sir : — It is with great surprise and pain I 
have read the announcement of Mrs. Smyth's death. I 
had seen the statement of her illness and the anxiety felt 
for her, hut it seemed incredible that one whom I had 
known to he unusually vigorous and active could pass 
away so soon. 

Allow me to express to you my deep sympathy with 
you in your great affliction, and my strong sense of her 
great and many excellences, and of the personal friend- 
ship which I highly prized. She was in many respects 
a rare woman, and in her memory you have all the com- 
fort that bright recollections can give. 

I trust that you may also be sustained by those reli- 
gious consolations which alone can fill such a void. 

Yours most sincerely, 

S. C. BARTLETT. 



Pittsfield, January 16, 1885. 
My Dear Governor : — 

You have our heartfelt sympathy in this hour of be- 
reavement of one of the noblest of wives. Trust a little 
time till you meet. 

Tenderly yours, 

(Rev.) JOSEPH HARVEY. 



40 

Dayton, Ohio. 
My Dear Friend, Gov. Smyth : — 

Mrs. Gunckel just brought me the sad news of the death 

of dear Mrs. Smyth. It was a great shock. She looked 

so well, so full of life, the last time I saw her, that I never 

connected death with her. No words of mine can assuage 

your grief, but having passed through the same dread 

ordeal, let me commend you to a loving Father who 

doeth all things well. May God bless you, and help you 

to bear this great affliction, is the prayer of 

Your friend, 

(Mrs.) ELIZA McDERMOT. 

18 Bowdoin Street, Boston, 

January 16, 1885. 
Dear Gov. Smyth: — 

I have just learned of your great affliction, and I can- 
not write all that is in our hearts for you to-day. They 
are full of a double sorrow, — for you, and for the loss of 
our dear angel friend. She was so good. My poor 
friend, I wish I could tell you how much we feel, but at 
such a time words seem worse than useless to assauge 
your great grief. 

We regret so much not being able to come up, but are 
compelled to go to New York, where we will be for a 
month at the Fifth Avenue theatre. When you feel like 
writing let us hear from you. With earnest, heartfelt 
sympathy, Your sincere friends, 

Mrs. DACE AND REGINA. 



41 

U. S. Senate, Washington, D. C, 
January 16, 1885. 
My Dear Friend : — 

I have just seen the intelligence of the death of Mrs. 
Smyth. So very, very sad to me and to every one who 
ever knew her, what an overwhelming affliction to you ! 
I feel too deeply for your grief to intrude with words, but 
I do hope that you will accept the most earnest sympathy 
of Mrs. Blair and myself in this great and irreparable 
loss. More tears will consecrate her memory than that 
of any woman of the state in her generation. Do not 
break under your great load of sorrow. Thousands of 
friends will bear you up with the love of full and burst- 
ing hearts, and there is always the strong refuge which 
you know in the bosom of the everlasting Father of all. 
God bless you, my dear, dear friend. It is all I can do. 
Sincerely your friend, 

HENRY W. BLAIR. 
Hon. Frederick Smyth. 



Gov. Smyth, — 

My Dear Friend : — I cannot refrain from writing you at 
this time, to express my deepest sympathy for you in the 
great sorrow which has come to you in taking from you 
the light of your beautiful home, the idol of your heart. 
May you have strength and light from above for the days 
which come. I find no words to express the deep sorrow 



42 

of my own heart as I remember the one who was always 
my friend and adviser. Your good wife was indeed 
queen among women, and without a peer in her noble, 
grand, and lovely character. To you she was everything, 
and I realize how much she was to me and mine. I 
shall only realize that she is gone when I look upon her 
dear face for the last time at her burial. Pardon me for 
saying so much, for my heart dictates the words, and 
believe me always, 

Very truly, your friend, 

ABBIE M. HEAD. 

(Wife of ex-Gov. Head.) 



Boston, January 16, 1885. 
My Dear Mr. Smyth : — 

Allow me to express my deepest sympathy for you in 
your recent affliction. It was with great pain that we 
read of the death of your good wife. I hope you will try 
and not feel too much depressed over what we cannot 
help, and any time you are in town please give Mr. 
Brewster, Mrs. Estabrook and myself a chance to shake 
you by the hand. 

Yours truly, 
A. F. ESTABROOK 

(Brewster, Cobb, & Estabrook, bankers.) 



43 

Candia, N. H., January 16, 1885. 
Dear Uncle Frederick : — 

Allow me to offer my sympathy. I grieve, too, over the 
loss that has come to us all. I shall not forget the kind- 
ness shown me in the past by Aunt Emily, nor by you. 
Have you read that beautiful hymn, " Lead, Kindly 
Light?" With little change it seems suited to you in 
these sorrowful days.* 

Very truly yours, 

ELLEST S. EATOK 



■i 



Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass., 
January 17, 1885. 
My Dear Sir : — 

Human sympathy is such a help in reaching forth to 
the Divine that I make bold to write a word to you in 
view of your recent bereavement, though I can hardly 
hope that it will be so much a satisfaction to yon as to 
myself. I have such a recollection of Mrs. Smyth's dig- 
nity and graciousness of manner, and the sweet accord 
which seemed to exist between you in all your plans for 
mutual happiness and usefulness to the world, that it is 
hard to realize that your lives are henceforth to be no 
longer one on earth as heretofore they have been one, as 
hereafter they shall be one in heaven. 

The words of eulogy belong to other lips than mine, 



* Cardinal Newman's poem will be found at the end of this memorial. 



44 

but I am permitted to offer a very real and genuine 

expression of my sorrow in your sorrow, and to bespeak 

for you all the comfort and grace which can come to 

stricken hearts from the God of all grace and comfort, 

who has for us only thoughts of love and mercy and help. 

God bless you, my dear sir, in your grief, and make it 

easier to see through the darkness to the light, and from 

the grave to the glory unutterable. You will receive a 

great many letters. May they all help you in your 

sorrow. 

Very faithfully yours, 

C. F. P. BANCROFT. 



Claremont, January 17, 1885. 
Hon. Frederick Smyth, — 

Dear Afflicted Friend : — The words of sympathy in this 
time of your great bereavement are almost idle. Cer- 
tainly they are powerless to console. Yet it is right that 
you should know how keenly your friends do sympathize 
with you, and how fully they appreciate the irreparable 
loss you have sustained. Be assured that Mrs. Walker 
and myself grieve with you, and especially at the unex- 
pectedness of the event, and at the thought that we shall 
see her lovely face and form no more, who brightened 
your life and in whose presence her friends always re- 
joiced. 

Sincerely and truly yours, 

J. S. WALKER. 



45 

South Newmarket, January 17, 1885. 
Please accept our heartfelt sympathy in this, your 
deep affliction. The event was to us wholly unexpected. 
Effectual comfort cannot come from man, only from God. 

Very truly vours 

JAMES H. FITTS. 

(Pastor Congregational Church, South Newmarket.) 

Concord, January 17, 1885. 
My Bear Sir : — 

While on my way home from ]STew T York I heard of 
the decease of your wife, and was greatly shocked by it. 
My heart is full of sympathy for you in this great sorrow. 
Having myself been called to drink this bitter cup, I can- 
not but be profoundly moved when any friend is suffer- 
ing in like manner. It certainly does not fall to the lot 
of many men in this world to enjoy the love and loving 
companionship of such a rare and noble woman as was 
Mrs. Smyth. This makes your loss all the greater, but 
it will also awaken your gratitude that so great a bless- 
ing was vouchsafed to you for so long a period in your 
life. 

I am convinced that no one can enter into your sor- 
row and realize its crushing weight who has not passed 
through a similar trial, and that enables me to enter into 
your feelings. If the sympathy and kind regard of friends 
could ease the pain which fills your heart, your sorrow 
would be quickly assuaged. 



46 

From personal experience I know that there is but 
one source from which to obtain real comfort and sup- 
port, and I pray that He whose infinite love and compas- 
sion is able to sustain you, will be your constant help. 
I would not intrude into your sorrow, but I could not 
refrain from giving you in some way assurance of my 
deep sympathy in this, the great sorrow of life. 

Most sincerely yours, 

L. D. STEVENS. 

(Senator.) 



Portsmouth, January 17, 1885. 
Of her it may truly be said, my dear Mr. Smyth, 

" None knew her but to love her, 
None named her but to praise." 

Every one is full of her praises and of her kindly acts. 
My sister and I have thought of her and of you con- 
stantly, and when we learned the sad truth we could not 
credit it, so earnestly had we hoped for her recovery. 
How we shall miss her ? we always regretted the short- 
ness of her visits and tried to keep her longer with us. 
It was a benediction to have her with us. But you in the 
lonely house, no Emma to meet you with pleasant smile 
and that look of interest so peculiarly her own, what can 
we say ? It is vain to try to comfort you, but we all felt 
we must send just a word to let you know our warmest 
sympathies are yours. We intended going to assist in 



47 

the last sad rites, but the weather is so forbidding and 
we should be compelled to stay away all night, so we 
must content ourselves with being near her in spirit. 
Accept, dear Mr. Smyth, our warmest good wishes that 
you may be sustained and comforted in this most griev- 
ous affliction. 

Yours most truly and sympathizingly, 

KATE MILLER. 

(Late Mrs. Frank Miller. ) 



High School, Gloucester, Mass., 
January 18, 1885. 
My Dear Sir : — 

I am well aware that it is not for the stranger to inter- 
meddle in such a grief as yours must be in the loss of so 
estimable a wife, but I may be pardoned the seeming in- 
trusion in my wish to let you know how very helpful she 
who has gone was to me at a very critical point of my 
life. It was your own courtesy and that of Mrs. Smyth 
that led you, on the occasion of the return of the ~New 
Hampshire regiments from the war, to meet in a social 
way at Concord the officers of our regiments. As one 
of these, I recall with pleasure the cordial greetings and 
hearty good- will of our war governor and the now la- 
mented lady who stood by his side. In conversation with 
Mrs. Smyth that evening, she asked me what I, a young 
an inexperienced officer, proposed to do next in the 



48 

world, and when I told her that before entering the ser- 
vice I had thought some of getting an education, but was 
not sure that I could afford the time, she seemed in- 
spired out of her own interest to urge me to go on with 
my original purpose. Her words meant very much to 
me, as I have always thought they were the deciding 
motive in my choosing a scholar's life. 

In later years at Manchester I had occasion to thank 
her with all my heart for this timely advice and helpful 
word. The sad news of her departure and your own ex- 
ceeding trial has served to recall afresh the debt of grati- 
tude I owe her. If I may put no other tribute to her 
worth, I trust that you will allow me this word, poor as 
it is, of recognition and thankfulness. 

With sincerest sympathy for yourself, 

I remain, 
A. W. BACHELER. 

(Former principal of Manchester High School.) 



Candia Village, January 18, 1885. 
4 o'clock p. m. 

My Dear Frederick: — 

Allow me to drop the sympathizing tear over the re- 
mains of the dear wife of your youth as you lay her 
away to remain until the bright morn of the resurrection 
shall her and my dear Sarah bring forth again to life. 



49 

may we be ready to greet them to part no more for- 
ever ! This loss brings fresh to my mind the sympathy 
of yourself and your dear Emily, now almost three years 
ago, when I laid my dear Sarah away, but I trust our 
loss is their gain. May we so shape our lives, I say 
again, that we can greet them beyond the river. It will 
not be long before we shall go to them as time passes 
on. I feel that I am nearing the shore, being past eighty- 
one. Trust in God, and believe all things will work 
for good to them that love God and keep His command- 
ments. 

Yours truly, 

JONATHAN MARTIN. 

Washington, January 18, 1885. 

My Dear Sorrow-Stricken Friend : — 

It is not without reluctance that I intrude upon the 
sacredness of your grief, but I cannot refrain from offer- 
ing you the sincere condolence of my wife and myself. 
It seems hardly possible that one so large-hearted, so 
sympathetic, so useful, and so loved, should have thus 
been summoned across the dark river. But the ways of 
Providence are inscrutable. A few years more, my dear 
friend, and we shall be relieved from earthly sorrows and 
trials, and meet again the loved ones who have preceded 
us. My wife joins me in sending you our sympathy and 
love. Faithfully yours, 

T. tj, G BEN: PERLEY POORE. 

Hon. Frederick Smyth. 



50 

Washington, January 18, 1885. 
My Dear Governor : — 

I noticed in a newspaper that Mrs. Smyth was seriously 
ill, and almost immediately thereafter that she had left 
you. I have thought what a change and serious blow 
this must be to you. It rarely falls to the lot of husband 
and wife to be so much together as you were, — to travel 
together so much, to see, experience, and enjoy so much 
in company. This habit will make your life seem all the 
more strange and desolate now, and its burden very hard 
to bear. 

I never speak of the hope of consolation to a friend so 
bereaved, it seems like formality if not mockery ; but I 
give you all my sympathy, and I can certainly speak to 
you of the universal feeling concerning your wife, that 
she was cheerful, helpful, lovable in character and dispo- 
sition, in the opinion of those who knew her little or 
much. You will have none but tender recollections of 
her, except that you will be prouder than ever of her 
noble qualities of mind and heart. 

It is thirty-three years, my friend, since you began to 
help me start in life. There have been ups and downs, 
chances and changes, but nothing which prevents my 
heart from going out to you very warmly in this grievous 
hour of your great trouble. 

Truly yours, 

W. E. CHANDLER. 

(Secretary of the Navy.) 



51 

North Hadley, Mass., 

January 18, 1885. 
Hon. Frederick Smyth, — 

My Dear Sir: — I hope it will not seem an intrusion 
for me to express to you my sincerest sympathy for you 
in your sore affliction, at this hour when you are prob- 
ably laying away the loved form of your sainted dead. 

Our Thursday's daily announced the death of your 
wife, and a letter from my sister, a parishioner of her 
cousin, Bev. J. H. Fitts, of South Newmarket, N. EL, 
told the time of her funeral. I do not know that I ever 
met you, but have often wished for the time when I 
could accept the kind invitation of Mrs. S. to call on you 
when both were at home. This invitation was given 
over two years ago, when I called at your residence with 
the wife of my cousin, J. C. French, on my way to preach 
in Pittsfield in memory of our grandmother. (She was 
a Lane, and cousin of my father, who died October 27, 
1884, at Stratham, K H.) 

My reason for calling and basis of our acquaintance 
was our common ancestry in* descent from Dea. Joshua 
Lane, of Hampton, son of William, and grandson of Wil- 
liam, the immigrant in 1650. He (Joshua) was great- 
great-grandfather to Mrs. S., myself, and many others. 
After kindly showing us over your beautiful grounds 
and a large part of the mansion, we went into the library 
to see a globe lately purchased rotating by clock-work ; 
then, in view of a bust, she asked me if I recognized it as 



52 

of any one I had seen. I did not recognize jours but did 
hers, and rejoice that you have this comfort in your lone- 
liness. In pictures of Queen Victoria's family group 
since Prince Albert's death, I ever notice his bust in the 
background. I trust you have a memento which will 
seem as precious. And may the strong faith and stead- 
fast hope which in an unusual degree have been continued 
in our (Lane) family line, which I trust was her stay and 
staff when she (with the son of God) walked the valley 
of the shadow of death, be also your comfort till you 
come to the meeting-place beyond. 

Much of our conversation at the time of mv call was 
upon our ancestry, and my discovery, in the neglected 
cemetery at Hampton, of the graves of Dea. Joshua 
Lane and wife and probably of his father and mother. 
The grave marked " W. L." we think is of his father, 
because near his own in the same row, one (of his mother, 
probably) between, and because in his diary which I have 
he wrote, giving date, this day " my honored father died 
at my house." At Mrs. Smyth's request I afterwards 
sent her the direct line of her ancestry to William from 
England, and a plan of the location and position of the 
graves in Hampton's oldest cemetery, together with the 
strong desire of some of us to see that sacred spot secured 
from fast-coming oblivion. I told her of our plan, by 
contributions from descendants to place a plain but de- 
sirable granite monument there to mark those four graves 
and tell of the ancestor of the family. 



53 

I have before me her reply, in which she wrote : " You 
are very kind to devote so much time, but I assure you 
I appreciate and am very grateful for this history of our 
ancestry, and also for the plan of their resting-place. I 
hope to visit it sometime. My sisters, also, have been 
equally interested, and would be pleased to meet you. 
When our clergymen cousins move in the matter of a 
monument to our revered forefathers, I have no doubt 
they will find a ready response from many of the numer- 
ous Lane tribes. I don't know of any among them who 
have great possessions of this world's goods, but I believe 
'blood tells,' and so we are rich in the priceless inherit- 
ance of honest, upright, Christian ancestry, and I trust 
we are not unmindful of it." 

The delicate way in which Mrs. S. used our distant 
family connection to make me feel at home with her 
won my sincere regard. My little boy of four summers 
remembers how she let him ride the (statue) pony near 
the stable, and when we left we hoped to meet you both 
again. 

May your sorrow be softened by the thought of the 
treasure once in possession, but now transplanted to await 
you in the home above. 

Sincerely yours, 

JOHJST W. LAKE. 

(Pastor Second Church, Hadley, Mass.) 



54 

Tamworth, January 19, 1885. 
My Dear- Friend : — 

Words are inadequate to express my heartfelt sympa- 
thy for you in your great bereavement at the loss of your 
dear wife. The sorrow occasioned by her death pervades 
the entire community. She was beloved by all. 

Very truly yours, 

XATT HUBBABD. 

Lancaster, January 19, 1885. 
Hon. Frederick Smyth, — 

My Dear Governor: — Mrs. Jordan and myself were 
saddened by the intelligence of the death of your most 
estimable wife. We had been made aware of her illness, 
but in common with her thousands of friends who were 
ignorant of the nature of her malady, had hoped the dis- 
ease would not prove fatal. We both well remember her 
kind, benignant, intelligent face, her winning, assuring 
manner, and her true, womanly grace and excellence of 
character. 

Mrs. Jordan, you may recollect, met her at the Twin 
Mountain House, and has ever since highly esteemed her. 
For years I have known of her as a lovely and lovable 
woman. You have our deep sympathy in your great 
affliction, and in a loss greater by far to you than if all 
else had been taken and she left. 

Bespectfully yours, 
Mr. and Mrs. C. B. JOBDAK 



55 

Newport, January 19, 1885. 
My Valued Friend : — 

Mrs. Adams and myself desire to assure you of our 
deep personal sympathy. The acquaintance of Mrs. 
Adams with Mrs. Smyth was brief, but sufficient to com- 
mand her highest respect. The news of her sickness 
alarmed us, but we hoped and prayed that she might live. 
The result realized our worst fears. " Her sun has gone 
down while it was yet day." Her preeminent womanly 
qualities, her true Christian spirit and life, her constant 
deeds of charity, her intellectual superiority and culture, 
her affability of manner, her purity of heart and mind, 
her friendship for all classes, greatly endeared her to all 
who knew her personally or by reputation, and we keenly 
feel that what she was to you in heart and life, not only 
as the companion of your days, but as the sunlight of 
your dwelling and the joy of your heart, constitutes a per- 
sonal loss to yourself beyond the power of words to 
express. 

May you have the aid and sustaining power of divine 
strength, and be cheered by the certain prospect that 
when you shall go over the river you will meet and be 
with the loved one in the higher life and service to which 
she has now been divinely called. 

Most truly yours, 

(Rev.) P. S. ADAMS. 



56 

Newark, 0., January 19, 1885. 
My Dear Uncle : — 

It is with profound sorrow that I have heard of the 
death of your dear wife, my Aunt Emma. Truly you 
have suffered a great affliction. She was my ideal of a 
true and nohle woman. Be assured all who knew her 
share in your sorrow ; yet He alone who has called her to 
enjoy the reward she justly deserves by a life so nobly 
spent, can offer you any consolation. 

Think of her as " not dead, but sleeping," waiting to 
join you on the other side of the river, never to part again. 
All join in sympathy for you. 

Your niece, 

ABBY METZ. 



Boston, January 19, 1885. 
Hon. Frederick Smyth, — 

Dear Sir : — It was with a feeling; of pain that I read in 
the morning paper of the death of the " sharer of your 
joys and sorrows." 

In the long ago, when I was scarce seventeen, you 
repeated the always sacred words that linked my life with 
the late Isaac Baldwin Hobbs, and memory has always 
preserved a very pleasant recollection of her who is gone 
while we were awaiting your arrival ; and so I have 
always felt a kindly interest in you both, and though a 
stranger, been very glad of your success in life. I, too, 



57 

know what it means to see the clear one fade from sight, 
because love, however strong, cannot stay the good All 
Father's mandate, and so most deeply do I sympathize 
with you in this your great bereavement. Please do not 
think me presuming, but believe me, I have always held 
you both in kindly remembrance. 

Very sincerely, 

MARY S. HOBBS. 

New Ipswich, January 19, 1885. 
Hon. F. Smyth, — 

My Dear Sir : — I have just seen the notice of your sor- 
rowful bereavement. I hasten to tender you my deep, 
my heartfelt sympathy in this hour of crushing loneliness. 
I do not feel myself gifted as a comforter to impart con- 
solation to one so suddenly and deeply involved in sor- 
row, but there is one whose tender loving-kindness is 
assured to the heavy-laden who look to Him for help. 
The desolation of your home will be more and more 
apparent as the days £iicl weeks pass on. I know it all. 
Six years to-day since my companion in life's struggles 
and trials passed to the higher home of eternal joy and 
rest. * * * * 

In closing, I commend you to Him whose compassions 
are very great, and who knows the keenness of your sor- 
row, and will heed your tears and cry for help while you 
pass the waters of coming bitter loneliness. 
Very truly yours, 

WILLIAM D. LOCKE. 



58 

The Vendome, Boston, 
January 19, 1885. 
My Dear Governor Smyth : — 

You have my heartfelt sympathy in the hour of your 
great bereavement. I know it all from experience, and 
have full knowledge of what you are to endure in the 
present and as well in the future, in the loss of your wife. 
I remember well my first interview with Mrs. Smyth at 
my house in Marlborough street, and in Mrs. Bryant's 
lifetime. We often spoke of your wife's loveliness of 
person and manner. I remember my interview with 
Mrs. Smyth during her illness on my calling to pay my 
respects at your door in the autumn of last year, and the 
fact that she insisted on answering my card in person by 
coming down from her sick chamber, and I shall long 
carry in my mind the sweetness of expression with which 
I was welcomed. Words, I know, seem hollow at such 
times, but I could not resist addressing you a few lines 
of consolation and respect. Believe me 

Your obliged friend, 
GEIDLEY J. F. BRYANT. 

Franklin, January 19, 1885. 
Friend Smyth : — 

Allow me to express my kind and deep sympathy to 
you in consequence of your recent great bereavement. 
To me it was unexpected. Your good wife always ap- 
peared as the picture of health and long life. I cannot 



59 

realize that we shall see no more here in this life that 
animated, active "body, that smiling, benevolent counte- 
nance, and hear no more the attractive words of that 
sweet voice ; all lovely traits in the person and character 
of your late estimable wife. 

But our experience has taught us that " Death loves a 
shining mark," and often, too often, we are apt to think 
his relentless arrows are aimed at the useful and strong. 
May we not hope that your loss will be her gain ? that 
the immortal soul — what Young the poet denominates 
the "vital spark of heavenly name" — yet survives in a 
more happy and glorious state of being, in a higher 
sphere of existence ? Revelation teaches us, that when 
man was created the Almighty breathed into him the 
breath of life. Must we not believe that this inspiration 
from the Almighty embraces not only the short lives 
alloAved to humanity here, but also the immortal, intel- 
lectual life allotted to the just made perfect, or to the 
angels in heaven ? To me the promise is very comfort- 
ing, that there is a place of rest, where sin and sorrow can- 
not come. " In my Father's house are many mansions," 
all fitted and prepared for those who may enjoy them. 
The duty is enjoined upon us to strive while here to obtain 
an inheritance in these heavenly places. Our severe 
afflictions visit us as reminders of our mortality as well as 
of duties to be performed. 

Now I think of your wife as in the full enjoyment of a 
heavenly place, the glory of which the eye has not seen 



60 

nor the ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of 
mortals here to conceive of; therefore be comforted. 
" Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be com- 
forted ; " so says our Divine Master. 

A British poet prepared an epitaph for a deceased lady, 
his beloved friend. It was in these words : — 

" Here sleep in dust and wait the Almighty's will, 
Then rise unchanged and be an angel still." 

I adopt the sentiment for your wife, amended, that she 
rose as the angel the moment this mortality put on immor- 
tality. The poet Collins wrote a sweet verse in behalf of 
one of his deceased female friends : — 

" Each lonely scene shall thee restore, 
For thee the tear be duly shed ; 
Beloved till life could charm no more, 
And mourned till pity's self be dead." 

I remember you have already a beautiful monument 
prepared of your wife in one of your rooms. This she 
deserved. But be assured her many virtues and purity 
of life have erected durable monuments in the hearts of 
many friends who knew her worth. My wife, now on 
her sick bed, and destined to follow your own soon, 
wishes me to express her sympathy with you on this 
occasion. 

Truly ever, 

G. W. KESMITH. 



61 

Dartmouth College, January 19, 1885. 
Hon. Frederick Smyth, — 

Dear Friend : — Pardon me for wishing to tell you how 
sincerely I feel for you in your great affliction. From 
what I have been called to meet myself I know too well 
what such a bereavement means ; the very heavens are 
clouded, and the whole earth is made a desert. But there 
is one thing, — we can now enshrine them as never before 
in our appreciation, esteem, and love. Their numberless 
excellences and priceless charms take on a perfection 
greater than ever. These dearest ones of our lives, — we 
at last do them better justice; and may we not trust that 
He who fully knows their hearts and ours, supremely 
loving them and sympathizing with us, may ever com- 
municate to them the knowledge of this worthier, deeper 
love of ours for them ? Certainly we do know that 
He is in every way advancing their happiness, and will 
far transcend our best imaginings of what will give them 
joy; and let us ever, amidst our overwhelming sense of 
loss, pray and endeavor to be grateful for what they now 
share, and for all they were to us when on earth. Per- 
haps, too, the precious links which have bound them so 
blessedly to us on earth, will seem in time no less precious 
because the other end of the golden chain is now in 
heaven. Mrs. Smyth's death has brought afresh to my 
mind and heart the death of her brother Richard, the one 
of all my college classmates who I think loved me best, 
and whose death I cease not to this day to feel and to 



62 

lament. How blessed must the meeting be of kindred 
and friends in that better world, while there will also be 
the pouring forth of endless gratitude for immortality 
and salvation to Him who hath redeemed us by His blood, 
and is the resurrection and the life. 

I remain, dear friend, 

Sincerely and truly yours, 

H. E. PARKER, 

(Professor at Dartmouth College.) 



Dovee, January 20, 1885. 
My Dear Governor : — 

I notice with sadness the decease of your dear wife. 
Please accept my sincere sympathy for you in your great 
affliction. I realize fully what it is. My good father 
died December 25. 

With the kindest regards 

I remain sincerely yours, 

CHARLES A. TUFTS. 



Campton, January 20, 1885. 
My Dear Friend: — 

I most deeply sympathize with you in your very great 
sorrow. Years ago I passed through the same furnace, 
so that I know from experience how to feel for you. 
Your wife was to you no common helpmate. From all 



63 

I had ever seen of her and from all I heard, she was a lady 
of rare attainments, and useful in all the walks of life. 

But, my dear sir, you will miss her as no other can. 
As the days come and go you will feel her loss as no one 
can tell. " How lonely ! " you will say, as you return to 
your home day after day. ~No one now to share your 
joys and help bear your burdens, as she could. If you 
had plans to mature and carry out, who so ready to assist 
and advise as she ? Your most tried and confidential 
friend is gone. How lonely now the house, how dark 
the very road seems to you, now the great earthly burden- 
bearer of your life has passed away ! 

But, my dear friend, I do not write thus to make still 
deeper the wound in your heart already made, but to 
give you some little evidence of my deep interest in you 
in this your sore trial, and more especially to ask you to 
look up to the great heavenly Burden-Bearer, for He says, 
" Come unto me, all ye that are heavy laden, and I will 
give you rest." Yes, there is rest in Jesus. Does not 
heaven now seem more attractive than ever before ? May 
not this be a divine call to a higher and a brighter conse- 
cration in the service of the dear Master? 

Let me assure you there is joy in believing and peace 
in Jesus. Will you suffer me to give you one kind word 
of advice now in this your great need ? It is this : Go 
to Jesus in your closet, and tarry there till you shall feel 
His presence lighting up your very pathway. Xo earthly 
hope or prop satisfies now, but Jesus says, " In me ye 



64 

shall have peace." that blessed peace ! may it be yours. 
Please accept these few lines of sympathy and kind ad- 
vice from 

Your true friend, 

w. a. BKOWK 

(Agent N. H. Bible Society.) 



U. S. Senate, Washington, D. C, 
January 20, 1885. 
My Dear Sir : — 

I have learned with deep regret of the recent death 
of Mrs. Smyth. It was entirely unexpected, though I 
thought at the time I was at your house last autumn that 
she was not in her usual health. Mrs. Pike joins with 
me in sending you our condolence and deepest sympathy 
for your great bereavement. 

I remain yours most respectfully, 

AUSTIN F. PIKE. 
Hon. Frederick Smyth. 



Lawrence, Kan., January 20, 1885. 
Ex-Gov. Smyth, — 

Beloved Sir and Friend: — A postal card from our 
daughter, Mrs. E. B. Payne, speaks of Mrs. Smyth's 
death. Is it so ? That excellent lady, your admirable 
wife, called away, and you to walk alone ! 



65 

I hasten to send my heartiest sympathy and deepest 
contribution of love in this your great bereavement. Had 
I not walked a similar pathway (1862), I should hardly 
feel that I could say one word under a trial so very great. 
How again she comes to me as I recall her handing me 
her large woolen shawl on the ship the first night out 
from Beyroot as I was about to camp on deck, and I see 
her as she sat in the studio in Rome, as she talked to me 
as the artist was turning her womanliness into marble. 
Again she comes to me as I sit at your table in your own 
house, from whence she has just been taken out. 

It was infinite love that gave her to you, and the same 
love has taken her. Be comforted, dear sir, He makes 
no mistakes, His name is love. Could you write me a 
little concerning her sickness and death ? I shall value 
it so much. 

Most fraternally and under much obligation, 

(Rev.) H. K. BURKELL. 



Nashua, January 23, 1885. 
My Dear Governor Smyth : — 

The sad news of your great loss was to me like a per- 
sonal bereavement. No one could meet Mrs. Smyth 
without yielding at once to the charm of her sweet pres- 
ence. Her nature was so flower-like that it drew out the 
best that was in one, and attracted it to itself as a flower 
draws sunshine. Although lam one of the youngest and 

5 



66 

latest of her friends, I am none the less unwilling to re- 
linquish my claim to that title, and shall always carry in 
the holy of holies of my memory the remembrance of 
her kindness and cordiality to me. The recollection of 
that sunny May-day, which was made especially sunny 
to me by being passed constantly at her side, is among 
my most delightful memories. I still keep a flower she 
wore, which she gave me at parting as a souvenir of our 
pleasant time together. 

I send you this, not in an impossible hope of attempt- 
ing to offer the least consolation to such grief as yours, 
but because of a natural impulse to tell you how dear she 
was to even me, a young, lately made friend, and how 
far the gentle influences of her life extended, that she 
could make even one chance meeting on an unimportant 
occasion memorable because of her presence, and because 
her gentle loveliness illumined it. 

My grandmamma, who has known and loved Mrs. 
Smyth for many years, is too distressed to attempt at 
present the effort of sending you any expression of her 
sympathy except through me, and she desires me to tell 
you how truly and sincerely she sympathizes with you, 
and that she speaks as one having had a bitter experience 
of the same nature in the loss of her dear husband. 

Believe me to be, clear Governor Smyth, with most 
earnest sympathy, 

Yours very sincerely, 

AKS S. G. tfOYES. 



67 

Boston, January 20, 1885. 
My Dear Governor : — 

I have learned through the papers of the great sorrow 
that has come upon you, and I find it almost impos- 
sible to believe that she who was like sunshine to all who 
knew her will no longer gladden us with her presence. 
My heart goes out to you with a great throb of sympathy, 
which I have hesitated to express, but I loved her also. 
You have the comfort of knowing that you made her 
happy, and that the world is better for her having lived 
in it. The General joins me in sorrow and sympathy. 

Very sincerely yours, 
(Mrs.) ELIZABETH L. TILTOK 



Hanover, January 24, 1885. 
Governor Smyth, — 

Dear Sir : - — I am following out the promptings of my 
heart even at the risk of intruding upon you, but I wanted 
to assure you, in writing you, of the deep interest and 
sympathy I have had for you at this sad time. I cannot 
realize at all that such a sorrow has come to your life 
and home. I had no knowledge that Mrs. Smyth was 
not in her usual health until the papers told us of her 
illness and death. I would like to know something more 
if I might. It seems such a strange Providence that 
could take her so quickly from so much in life that was 
happy and bright. This mystery of death, of God's ways 



68 

not our ways, the separation of those whose joy is life 
together, is all past our comprehension here. Only faith 
can help us to struggle on through the shadowed way 
here to light and life hereafter. 

I remember so well the first time I met your wife, of 
the merry time here fifteen years ago. Memory brings 
up the beautiful face and winsome manner of the lovely 
woman every one called charming. The pleasant cour- 
tesies from you and her to myself and husband will never 
be forgotten. I had hoped sometime to see her again ; 
now our meeting will never be here. It is all very, very 
sad, and I know your life is desolated ; but sometimes in 
our deepest grief we are glad to know friends remember 
us, and it is that which has urged me to write you these 
few words. I never had the happy faculty of saying the 
right word in the right place, and I can bring no words 
of comfort other than those I am sure you know, * He 
doth not willingly afflict," and He only can bind up the 
broken heart. 

Your sincere friend, 

(Mrs.) SARAH C. BLAKPIED. 



Boston, January 25, 1885. 
My Dear Governor : — 

I cannot withhold the expression of my sympathy in 
your great bereavement. You have passed beneath the 



69 

great shadow, and I know what it is to have the sun 
withdraw its light. Your wife was in every sense a most 
remarkable woman. No one knew her but to respect 
and love her. Her influence was felt in every society of 
which she was a part, and entered largely into circles 
where her presence was never known. 

I give you my heart-felt sympathy. I know it is a 
poverty-stricken gift to a bereaved and afflicted man, but 
that, with my earnest prayer for the blessing of God to 
comfort you, is all I can bestow. 

Very sincerely yours, 

DANIEL KEEDHAM. 



Lynn, Mass., January 25, 1885. 
Hon. Frederick Smyth, — 

Dear Sir : — We learn with sorrow that sad news from 
your home. The death of your estimable wife is deeply 
regretted by all who knew her, and having no other 
means of expressing our regard for her memory we send 
these few lines. Her noble character and kind consider- 
ation for all won our love at once. "We feel the same 
toward yourself. The kindness shown us will never be 
forgotten ; and we trust that the many friends you have 
around you, who have shared the burdens of your busy 
life, will be spared to make the declining years of your 
life happy. Like a dewdrop or a sunbeam we would 
add our little mite, and though we may not be clistin- 



70 

guished among the many rays of love's sun you feel 
and see, we will be there with a loving warmth all the 
same. We have thought of you often and of Col. Water- 
man Smith, who was so kind to us during your absence 
in Europe. Please tell him of our love and remem- 
brance. 

Yours truly, 

WILLIAM' STIRLING. 

(For a time the farmer in charge at " The Willows.") 



National Soldiers' Home, Dayton, 0., 
January 26, 1885. 
Gov. Frederick Smyth, — 

My Deai' Sir and Friend : — We were greatly shocked 
to learn of the death of your beloved wife. We had not 
heard of her illness, and this added greatly to our sur- 
prise. My dear Governor, what shall I say by way of 
comforting you ? I know so well the poverty of words 
to relieve when our dear ones are taken away b}^ the 
hand of relentless death. I can only commend you to 
the consolations of the gospel of our own dear Saviour, 
in which you have believed and trusted. It is too true 
that our loved ones cannot come to us again, and that 
we shall see then no more on earth, but there is a bright 
side to all this sorrow. While we weep and are incon- 
solable, they are indescribably happy. Dear Mrs. Smyth 
now walks the streets of the New Jerusalem, and dwells 



71 

in the "city that hath foundations, whose maker and 
builder is God," and there she awaits your coming. Let 
the sweet hope of meeting your loved one cheer you even 
in these dark hours. how I wish I could say just one 
word that would relieve your stricken heart ! My wife 
and children tearfully join me in expressions of tenderest 
sympathy, and most earnestly entreat the loving Father 
whom you serve to bless and comfort you. 
Sorrowfully and lovingly, 

WILLIAM EARNSHAW. 

(Chaplain.) 



Dept. of Agriculture, Washington, 
January 27, 1885. 
My Dear Governor : — 

I have learned with great sorrow the loss you have sus- 
tained by the departure of your good wife. I know her 
true merit, her devotion to you, the wise support she gave 
you, and the high place she filled in the circle of her 
friends. You alone can realize the loss of one who has 
been your life-long companion, but I can sympathize with 
you, and I know well how cold and bare the world seems 
when the friend of your heart is taken away. 

Truly your friend, 

GEORGE B. LORING. 

(Commissioner.) 



72 

Denver, Col., January 27, 1885. 
Dear Governor : — 

I have heard to-day of the death of Mrs. Smyth, which 
was entirely unexpected, not knowing of her illness. I 
beg to express my sincere sympathy upon your great 
bereavement, and to remind you that in the opinion of 
all who knew her she did her duty, and fought the good 
fight well, leaving a record of true nobility unexcelled by 
any lady in the history of New Hampshire. 

Very truly yours, 

R. W. WOODBURY. 

(President of Denver Board of Trade.) 



Homeville, C. B., January 26, 1885. 
Dear Governor : — 

I suppose no words of sympathy can comfort you in 
the hour of trial. How can I realize that Mrs. Smyth 
has been called away from you to a better world ! How 
sad you must feel ! You have my heartfelt sympathy, 
and I am so sorry I was not there to see her before she 
died. I shall never forget her many kind words and 
looks and acts to me. I loved her next to mother, and 
no greater friend I had than she. Why did God call her 
away so soon, when she was so much needed here? But 
God's ways are mysterious, and we must say, His will be 
done. I have many things to thank Mrs. Smyth for, and 
many gifts to remember her by. May God sustain and 



73 

keep you in this dark hour of trial and affliction, and 
may we all strive to meet her in heaven. But if words 
fail to express my feeling, what must yours be ? I pray 
you live in the hope of meeting her again ; she has only 
gone before, and will meet you there. We all send heart- 
felt sympathy, — father, mother, and the others. 

With my best regards, 

CHRISTINA HOLMES. 

(Housekeeper for Mrs. Smyth many years.) 



Manchester, January 31, 1885. 
Dear Sir : — 

We feel that we cannot let this great affliction and loss 
come to you without expressing our sympathy as old 
friends. We who have known, admired, and loved her 
all these years, feel that what has been said and written 
in regard to her is all true, and we wish, now that the first 
great shock of parting is over, to say we give you most 
heartfelt sympathy. 

Mr. and Mrs. BENJAMIN KINSLEY. 



Dayton, O., January 27, 1885. 
My Dear Gov. Smyth : — 

I am deeply pained at the word which has just reached 
me of the death of my dear friend, your sweet wife. I 



74 

feel as though I had lost one of my own, and cannot 
express how much I am grieved. My husband joins me 
in sympathizing with you in your great affliction. 

Believe me your sincere friend, 
(Mrs.) KATE W. GtWCKEL. 

(Wile of Gen. Gunckel ) 

Moberly, Mo., January 28, 1885. 
Gov. Smyth, — 

Kind Sir : — Your sad letter of the 21st received yes- 
terday. Words cannot express my feelings when I 
learned the sorrowful news. Memory carried me hack to 
the time when all was dark and gloomy ; when she came 
to me as an angel; and I shed one scalding tear to her 
dear memory which I shall carry with me to the grave. 

I am truly grateful to you for remembering me. 



This note so interested the recipient that he immediately forwarded the 
request alluded to in the letter which follows : — 

Moberly, Mo., February 16, 1885. 
Gov. Frederick Smyth, — 

Dear Sir: — Your letter of February 4, was received 
by due course of mail. I thank you for your expressions 
of regard, and reciprocate the kindness you feel. You 
ask me to detail the circumstances under which I met 
your wife, and the causes which led me to esteem her so 
highly. The tale is a short one. On the 7th day of 



75 

December, 1881, I was fireman on a freight train running 
into Kansas City. At a point (Rock Creek) between 
Kansas City and Independence an accident happened to 
the train on which I was employed (rear-end collision), 
by which I received very severe and what appeared to be 
fatal injuries. I was taken back to Independence, where 
the surgeons cared for me and did what they could to 
stanch the flow of blood and ease my suffering. Mrs. 
Smyth was on board a train going east from Kansas City, 
which was detained for several hours by the accident to 
the freight train. It arrived at Independence about the 
time the surgeons had finished binding up my wounds, 
and I was placed on board and in the sleeper in which 
Mrs. Smyth had taken passage. To her I was a perfect 
stranger, of course, but the sight of suffering and distress 
stirred the deepest sympathies of a naturally sympathetic 
heart, and no mother ever ministered to the wants of her 
wounded son with more tender devotion than did Mrs. 
Smyth to mine. Every little act of kindness that a 
woman's gentle and affectionate nature could suggest was 
lavished upon a poor fireman whom she had never seen 
nor even heard of before. My home is in Mexico, Mo., 
a distance of about one hundred and fifty miles from 
Independence, and during all that distance, neglecting 
the sleep and rest her age and physical weakness required, 
she gave me every attention that my own mother could 
possibly have shown. Is it any wonder, then, that I cher- 
ish a sense of gratitude for her kindness and deep affec- 



76 

tion for her memory ? Such attentions to a stranger from 
a woman in her station were sufficient to awaken the live- 
liest emotions, and to cause the recipient to feel that life 
is worth the living ; that all are not cold and heartless, 
and the world is not a desert without an oasis. I shall 
ever remember her as a guardian angel, a true Samaritan 
whose good deeds went up as sweet incense to the throne 
of the Most High. 

Thanking you for your expressions of regard, I am, 

Yours truly, 
FRANK B. CRADDOCK. 



Newport, January 30, 1885. 
Dear Sir and Friend : — 

We, the undersigned, representing the organizations 
named below, wish to express our heartfelt sympathy for 
you in the loss of your companion, whom to know was to 
esteem and love. 

May the great Friend and Father of us all comfort and 

bless you. 

(Signed) 

E. M. KEMPTON, 

CHARLES H. LITTLE, 

Committee of Fred. Smyth Post J\ 7 o. 10. 

M. S. WALDRON, 
T. F. PUTNAM, 
A. H. KEMPTON, 

Committee of Fred. Smyth Relief Corps No. 7. 



77 

Washington, February 1, 1885. 
My Dear Governor Smyth : — 

I have just heard of your great affliction through the 
newspaper sent my father, and I cannot resist writing and 
telling you how much I also loved Mrs. Smyth, and that 
all my sympathies are with you. It was such a shock, as 
I did not even dream that she was ill. I know how badly 
both my father and mother will feel when they hear the 
sad tidings. They have been South for two weeks, and 
father improving all the time. 

I pray God that he will help you in this your terrible 
affliction, and remember that I loved her. 

Always very sincerely yours, 

MARY F. WAITE. 

(Daughter of Chief -Justice Waite.) 

Lowell, Mass, Feb. 1, 1885. 
My Dear Governor Smyth : — 

On my return from Washington I was inexpressibly 
grieved to learn for the first time of the death of your 
most amiable and lovely wife, and, my dear friend, it 
was a blow for which I was not prepared, even by knowl- 
edge of dangerous illness. I had heard of Mrs. Smyth's 
sickness in the early autumn, but had also heard of what 
I had supposed to be her recovery. Christmas morning 
I received her and your most kindly telephonic message 
at my house, so like you both that I rejoiced in appre- 



78 

ciation of your kindly friendship. I have been through a 
like terrible bereavement ; but even that has not gifted 
me with words of consolation, or with phrases with which 
to alleviate deep sorrow. At such a time words are sim- 
ply mockery. They address themselves to the intellect 
and to reason. But what do they do when the heart is 
torn and every heart-string broken ; when the present 
life is misery made torture by vivid remembrance of all 
that was, and is loved and lost ? Time, alas ! is the only 
healer ; but even that remedy is useless if you give it not 
opportunity, which I fear you will not do. Largely with- 
drawn from the cares of business, with too much leisure, — 
for you will use it in brooding over remembrances that 
will simply stimulate grief, — you will give time no oppor- 
tunity to do its kindly promised work in your behalf. 

I pray you, therefore, my dear friend, to plunge into 
some occupation, some affair that shall be urgent and 
exacting, which will command your withdrawal from 
self-introspection. This is the advice, I am sure, the 
clear intellect and loving heart of her who has gone 
would give you could she return to guide your steps to 
happiness as she has so long done. 

Do not yourself feel that withdrawing your mind from 
your great loss is an injustice or wrong to her, or forget- 
fulness of her great worth. I may venture to imagine 
that she herself — if those who are gone are permitted to 
deal with earthly matters — would not so view the course 
of action I propose. Honor her memory by alleviating 



79 

your sorrow at her loss by every possible means. Would 
she not do everything to that end in regard to a sorrow 
for any other loss, if she were with you ? 

Why not, then, make distraction from poignant grief, in 
which she would not fail to aid you, a means of, in some 
degree, the continuing of her loving-kindness for these so 
many years ? Ponder upon this, my friend, and see if I 
am not in the right; and I may hope that health and 
strength will be spared us to meet soon to exchange views 
upon this matter face to face, — not that our joy may be 
full, but that our grief may be less. 

Very truly, your friend, 

BENJ. F. BUTLER. 

Grov. Frederick Smyth, 

Manchester, N. H. 



Newton Highlands, Mass., 
February 3, 1885. 

Dear Uncle Frederick: — 

I would like you to know how much I do feel the loss 
of my dear Aunt Emily. She was very dear to me, and 
has always done so much to make my life happier, to 
help me in many ways. With her large, warm heart it 
was natural for her to be kind and pleasant to all, to 
cheer them by her words and ever pleasant looks and 
deeds. But perhaps it was not always easy for her to do 
this, as she may have had many cares and trials that we 



80 

did not know of. It is not easy for any one to always 
have a cheerful face, to speak kindly, and to do the good 
deed, and it is rare to find such an one. I think much 
now of the times past when I have been with her and my 
other aunts, the happiest times of my life, and think that 
perhaps she and they did not know that I so much appre- 
ciated all that they have done for me, all that they have 
been to me. Now that I cannot speak to her, I am afraid 
that she did not know how much I loved her. Let me 
tell this to you. I shall talk to my children of her, try- 
ing to have them remember her, and if nrv daughters 
would grow up to be such a blessing to the world as she 
has been, we shall be very glad. 

You must learn to love to think of her in that new and 
happy home, though the years of waiting before you can 
see her must seem too long to be endured. My husband 
and I feel much for you in your desolation, and hope that 
after a time you may be able to take up your life, though 
broken, and carry it on to the end, — to the reunion. 

Your very affectionate niece, 

MARY A. PRENDERGAST. 



Port Hope, February 3, 1885. 
Ex-Gov. Smyth, — 

My Dear Sir : — I extend to you my heartfelt sympathy. 
I remain, my dear sir, your friend, 

MAGGIE BUTTERFIELD. 



81 

Manchester, February 3, 1885. 
Dear Gov. Smyth: — 

I should have called to offer you my sympathy in your 
great sorrow, but I have been ill in bed since Christmas. 
I asked Nellie to open the window in an adjoining room 
so that I could hear the chimes as they played a requiem 
to one so dearly loved. My dear Governor, believing in 
immortality and the resurrection of the dead, so you will 
again see the beloved. Her hand will unlock the pearly 
gate to show you her heavenly home. 

" They err who tell us love can die. 
With life all other passions fly, 
All others are but vanity. 
Its holy flame forever burneth, 
From heaven it came, to heaven returneth." 

(Mrs.) C. A. SANDERSON. 



Brighton, Eng., February 3, 1885. 

My Dear Gov. Smyth : — 

I have just heard through a letter from Concord of the 
death of your wife, and I hasten to tell you how deeply 
I sympathize with you in this sore trouble that has come 
upon you, and I pray that God may give you grace to 
bear it. You may remember that at one time I saw Mrs. 
Smyth very often, and I thought a great deal of her, and 
I had every reason to believe she reciprocated the feeling. 



82 

My dear father, too, was always interested in her, and 
would ask me in my frequent visits to him in Providence, 
" How is Mrs. Governor Smyth? " and would invariably 
add, " She is a great woman," which with him expressed 
a great deal. I sent you and Mrs. Smyth last summer a 
memorial of him, but suppose you never received it, as 
I heard nothing from you to that effect. And now the 
bond that has so long bound you and your wife together 
in the holiest ties is forever broken in this world, but to 
be carried on in that world where all is light and love 
and joy. My esteem for her was very great. May our 
divine Lord have you in His holy keeping. 

Sincerely yours, 

JANE A. EAMES. 

(Wife of the late Dr. Eames of Concord.) 

Washington, February 4, 1885. 
My Dear Mr. Smyth : — 

For two weeks I have waited to write you a few lines 
to say how much we feel for you in your great sorrow, 
and yet I have put it off each day because I feared you 
would be over-run with just such letters and weary of 
reading them. We have thought of you often and talked 
of you much. 

There is nothing we can say to lighten your suffer- 
ings, but we wanted you to know you had our heart-felt 
sympathies. Yours very sincerely, 

MARY STEARNS BROOKE. 

(Wife of Gen. Brooke.) 



83 

State Board of Health, Lunacy, and Charity, 

Boston, February 9, 1885. 
Dear Sir : — 

The respect and sympathy of the Board is extended to 
you in your bereavement. The Board also desires to 
convey to you its sense of its own loss, remembering the 
willing and efficient services rendered to this common- 
wealth by the late Mrs. Smyth while auxiliary visitor. 

Respectfully yours, 

JOHE" D. WELLS, Clerk. 



Tilden Ladies' Seminary, West Lebanon, 

Governor Smyth, — e luar ^ > 

Dear Sir : — I have but recently learned of the great 
grief which has come to your heart and life, and I beg 
to tender you my sympathy. I can understand your 
loss but in a smaL) degree, but I can see what a great 
change has come to you. I have been thinking of you 
both as in Florida, and hoping all good things for Mrs. 
Smyth, but I suppose you didn't go. It will be no small 
grief to me that I can never look into her cheery face 
again here, but I hope to hereafter, and the time cannot 
be long for any of us. This thought and the hope of 
Christian faith will help to make the coming years a little 
less hard. I wish it were in my power to do something 
to help you, but I know how weak are words at such a 



84 

time, and how little I have to offer besides words. I 
think of her as your companion more than most wives 
are companions of their husbands, she was able to go 
with you so much and to enjoy what you enjoyed. 
Now that she is done with earthly joys and has laid down 
her earthly burdens and left you to bear alone whatever 
life has in store for you, I trust your courage will not 
fail in the good works in which she took delight, and in 
which her willing heart and hand stayed yours up. May 
the dear Heavenly Father strengthen you and comfort 
you in every good work as only such a comforter can, till 
he calls you again to her side. Mrs. Barlow joins me in 
good wishes and sympathy. 

Yours cordially, 

E. HUBBARD BARLOW. 

(Principal.) 



Beloit, Wis., February 5, 1885. 
Dear Friend : — 

You will not, I trust, deem it out of place for me to 
extend to you my heartfelt sympathy in the trial through 
which you are called to pass. It is, I think, an expe- 
rience which none can realize in any other way than to 
pass through it. Words are meaningless only as they 
discover the heart that prompts them ; and as I read a 
few days ago an account of that Sabbath afternoon, and 
the description given by Dr. Spalding of your " loved 



85 



one gone before," that aching void coming to jour breast 
these days revived so distinctly my experience in 1882, 
that I felt I must let you know that I could share it. 

On the morning of the 6th of April of that year, with- 
out warning, a kindred spirit was called from my side to 
take its night from earth, and I was left as you are, in the 
sense of being alone, which I saw beautifully expressed 
in a poem* written by H. W. Longfellow in 1861, after 
the death of his wife, which found its way into the " Inde- 
pendent," and was copied in the "!N". H. Statesman." 

Again the same day I picked up the account of the 
Londonderry celebration in 1869, and accidentally my 
eye fell on the sketch there given of you, and saw that 
you were born the same day I was, March 9, 1819, and 
that you were married the same year we were, but Mrs. 
H. was born February 8, 1821. So your tie lasted two 
and three-fourths years more than mine. 

As I look back over life it seems a mystery, but am 
often led to exclaim, " All is well done," and can feel 
assured our God makes no mistakes. 

With sincere sympathy yours, 

J. A. HOLMES. 

Hiawatha, Kan., February 9, 1885. 
My Dear Friend : — 

Though many miles away, I weep with you over the 
loss of your beloved wife and my dearest lady friend. 



Poem will be found at the commencement of this volume. 



86 

She held a place in my heart next to mother, dearer than 
any aunt (except one). 

How could we bear to have her taken, except that we 
feel that it is better for her ? but for us, — there is a void 
which no other can fill. 

She was my ideal of a true woman. I never was with 
her but I felt benefited and had a higher sense of the 
duties of a woman's life. Many are the happy hours she 
has made for me. That house seemed to be my house' 
also. I am so glad I saw her and had a parting kiss from 
her last summer. I want her photograph very much to 
place beside yours. I never had one of her except one 
taken twenty years ago. 

You have the sympathy of a large circle of friends in 
your bereavement. You may feel sure I sorrow most 
for her who was so dear. May we all meet there. 

Ever your true friend, 

HELEN JEFFEKS. 



150 Madison Street, Chicago, 
February 11, 1885. 
Beloved Sir and Friend : — 

Had I not walked a similar pathway I should not feel 
that I could say anything to you in this the hour of your 
great bereavement. He whose name is love can make no 
mistake. Love gave and love hath taken away. I am 
very grateful indeed that my life has been enriched by 



87 

some acquaintance with your departed wife. It is said 
that travel tests character; with her my acquaintance was 
largely at sea and in the cities of Asia Minor. Taking 
ship at Beyroot for Constantinople I took a third-class 
ticket. Prof. Porter went out with me into the offing to 
introduce some one on board who could speak English. 
No one could be found, and he returned to the shore 
leaving me among a great crowd of Arabs, Turks, Jews, 
and Mohammedans, and every square foot of the deck 
was covered by some one who like me held a deck 
ticket. We were not long in discovering the English- 
speaking chief engineer, to whom we made known that 
we were making a tour of the world in Christian work 
on nine hundred dollars, and he most kindly interviewed 
the captain, who at once gave orders that I be assigned 
to the cabin deck. This practically made of me (in loca- 
tion) a cabin passenger. Among the first in my ac- 
quaintance-making were yourself and Mrs. Smyth. It 
was but natural that the captain's kindness should be 
spoken of, and how and why I was making the world's 
tour. To sleep on that cabin deck was no trouble to 
me, but a great favor. How distinctly Mrs. Smyth's 
expression comes to me now as she said : " You are 
not to sleep on this deck all night?" " Certainly," I 
replied, "it is a privilege that I prize very highly." 
"Suppose it storms?" "Why then the gangways are 
allowed for use to some extent." When she arose to 
go below to her state-room, she handed me her large 



88 

woolen blanket-shawl saying, " It may possibly be in 
demand during the night." While memory lasts I 
shall not forget her thoughtful kindness that my nights 
in the open air on the Mediterranean might be made 
comfortable. 

In our five days on the steamer in the Grecian Archi- 
pelago, four in Constantinople, five in Athens, seven in 
Home, two in Venice, and a half-day at old Smyrna, my 
opportunities could scarcely have been better to have ob- 
tained a pretty close view of one's inner life. At Smyrna 
you, my dear sir, will remember that we visited the house 
of a lady missionary (Mrs. West), and how deeply inter- 
ested Mrs. Smyth was. She asked many questions con- 
cerning her work, and the missionary woman not only 
felt that they were dictated by an interest in that work, 
but also by a sincere personal regard for herself. 

This was true of her as she impressed herself upon me. 
In such leisure as is incident to sea travel, I was led to 
tell her of my endeavors in evangelistic work for nearly a 
quarter of a century, in all sorts of places, in all varieties 
of army experience, in the dark places in cities, in open- 
air missions, etc., etc., in all of which she evinced a per- 
sonal interest. You will remember our attempt at a 
Sabbath service on the Mediterranean when so many 
of the passengers were Mohammedans, which in the end 
we did not have, and how very much she regretted it. 

As she sat in the studio at Rome for her bust, I was 
delighted and profited by her conversation. Fearing lest 
I might disturb the artist in his modeling I said: " I must 



89 

leave or you will get worked into clay and so into marble 
as you appear by the fireside at home, or as I have seen 
you on shipboard." With her charming smile she re- 
plied: " That's exactly what I want to be; what I am at 
home in the details of domestic life, what I am as I jour- 
ney, what I am with my friends, and would be to every 
one." Noticing a line or two in her face indicative of 
the approach of middle age, I said : " The speaking mar- 
ble must show those lines." " Of course," she laughingly 
replied, " they indicate character." 

My last interview was at your beautiful home on the 
banks of the Merrimack. What a royal welcome she 
gave ! How she talked with you at the office through the 
telephone ! How cheery and bright, companionable and 
friendly, was the table talk ! I remember the face of the 
old Jersey cow on the wall and what she said of her value; 
and after dinner she took me leisurely from room to 
room, and she discoursed with an artist's eye, a mechan- 
ic's skill, and a painter's taste of the hard-wood finishing, 
the paintings on the wall, and the ornamental ceilings. 

As a character she grew upon me, and, my stricken 
friend, I, too, suffer a personal loss, and shall always be a 
personal and sincere mourner. 

Is that old gray blanket-shawl that she loaned me on 
the Mediterranean in existence ? If so (and you can 
spare it), please hand it to me in her name, and I will 
carry it while I travel, ever cherishing her memory. 

Most sincerely, 

K. A. BURNELL. 



90 

Quincy, III., February 12, 1885. 
My Dear Governor : — 

I have just opened the paper sent me, containing notice 
of the death of Mrs. Smyth, and am much shocked and 
saddened at the intelligence. It would be useless for me 
to speak of the depth of your affection, though my short 
acquaintance served to show me the strength of your 
mutual attachment and dependence. I must, however, 
mention one instance which seems more than a coinci- 
dence. Before leaving home this morning, and before I 
had the paper referred to, I was playing with our little 
daughter, now eleven months old, and remarked to my 
wife that I would send one of her recently taken photo- 
graphs to Mrs. Smyth. I cannot account for the impulse 
which thus expressed itself, as nothing had occurred in a 
long time to bring either of you forcibly to mind. As 
I left the house a few minutes later the postman handed 
me the paper, which, on being opened, contained the sad 
news. I have not since seen my wife, but I know she 
would join me in expressions of sympathy for your great 
affliction. 

Very sincerely yours, 

WILLIAM B. BULL. 

Treasury Department, Washington, 

February 14, 1885. 
My Dear Old Friend : — 

Although we have been long and far apart, my warm- 
est sympathy goes out to you in this your day of bereave- 



91 

merit. I think of the days when we were together long 
ago as officers of the agricultural society, and of later 
times when I held court in Manchester, when we were 
much younger than now, and of my pleasant meetings 
with your wife and you ; and I cannot think of you with- 
out her, who seemed to be so much a part of your life. 
My memory of her is of a young, bright, lovely woman, 
the light and life of the society about her. I have not 
seen her enough since to think of her as advanced in 
years with the rest of us. There is nothing for me to 
say by way of consolation, yet I know you will be glad 
of this reminder from one who has known and felt an 
interest in you both so long. 

And so, old friend, farewell, and God bless you. 

HENRY F. FEEISTCH. 

(Assistant U. S. Treasurer. ) 



Baltimore, February 18, 1885. 
My Dear Governor : — 

I was ever so much depressed day before yesterday 
upon receiving, from some kind friend in Manchester, 
newspapers containing the account of Mrs. Smyth's obse- 
quies. I had no knowledge that she had died. I don't 
know what to say to you. I had such respect for her, 
such an idea of her grand good health as exhibited in her 
handsome personal appearance, that I thought and hoped 
she would long outlive both of us. I am heartily glad 



92 

that the clergyman who delivered the address at her fu- 
neral knew her so well. What he said was well said, and 
showed an appreciation of her noble character. When I 
think now ot the many conversations we used to have 
about your early life with her as children, when you 
were piling wood and she was doing the domestic house- 
work, the early love that sprang up, and the success that 
sprang from that mutual early love and affection, my 
regrets are multiplied that it should not have lasted for- 
ever. Well, you have my heart-felt sympathy ; but I am 
glad she lived long enough to make all who knew her 
love her, and to " live with those we leave behind is not 
to die." 

Mrs. Bond, who in a very short intercourse recognized 
the womanly greatness and loveliness of her character, 
sends sympathy to you in your affliction, and you have 
no more sympathizing friend than 

Yours affectionately, 

HUGH L. BOND. 

(Judge U. S. Circuit Court.) 



Portland, Me., February 18, 1885. 
My Dear Friend : — 

It is a terrible experience through which you are pass- 
ing these days, and I feel so earnestly for you that I must 
take up my pen to express my heart-felt sympathy for 



93 

you. I can honestly say I have never known a woman 
more finely constituted by God to adorn every station 
through which she has moved than was your lovely wife. 
She was the soul of natural dignity, facility, and grace. 
In temperament, in instincts, in intuitive discernments 
of occasions and persons, in power to adapt herself to 
them, she was simply wonderful. The gift from the Lord 
of such a treasure for so intimate living and for so many 
years, lays you forever under obligation to your Heavenly 
Father. You prized her living ; but Oh, how must not 
each charm of person and character seem glorified by 
death ! How must not each more marked event of a life 
together so full of incident be touched with special ten- 
derness as you review it now ! 

Fortunate, thrice fortunate, have you been. So much 
the more, does it seem to me, do you require the living 
remembrances of those who more or less openly congrat- 
ulated you in the clays of your prosperity. Truly you 
have mine from the bottom of my heart. May you know 
the comforts of the Lord Jesus Christ in all their fullness, 
and then it will soon appear a short journey from " the 
singing seats " in the little church in Candia to the higher 
seats together in heaven. 

Very cordially yours, 

WILLIAM H. FEKN". 

(Pastor High-street Church, Portland, Me.) 



94 

Constantinople, February 18, 1885. 
Honorable Governor Frederick Smyth : — 

My Dear and Most Honored Friend : — Your letter of 
the 21st of January last has caused to me a very great 
affliction, and I am indeed very sorry to learn the great 
and irreparable bereavement which you have sustained 
in the premature and very sad death of your noble and 
most beloved companion, your very kind and highly 
accomplished wife. Oh, how much I sympathize with you, 
my dear Governor Smyth, and how profoundly my heart 
is touched with grief by this most sorrowful disaster ! 
You cannot imagine, nor do I feel myself able to express, 
my great dolefulness. I feel quite unfortunate for this 
great loss, and I assure you that the picture of your 
beloved wife has so impressively been printed in my 
memory that it will never be effaced, nor will it ever be 
possible for me to forget her kindness and amiableness, 
and the courtesy which she showed to me when I had 
the happiness and great pleasure to know her. But she 
is gone forever to a better world. I pray you, my most 
honored friend, to bear this great trial with all that Chris- 
tian abnegation and faith which are ever the sole consola- 
tion and support in this earthly and temporary life, and 
which, together with the high doctrines of our most holy 
and divine religion, strengthen and prepare us for the 
eternal life, the life of truthfulness, purity, and virtue. 

Hoping to have the honor to hear from you, I remain, 
dear Governor Smyth, D. K DEMETEIADES. 

(Interpreter for United States Consul-General.) 



95 

Brooklyn, N. Y., February 25, 1885. 
My Dear Mr. Smyth : — 

We were greatly grieved when tidings of your dear 
and honored wife's death came to us. I had it in my 
heart to write you at once, and my wife did sit down and 
write you a letter that seems not to have reached you. 
Her memory is altogether sweet and precious to us. I 
associate her with our life at the White Mountains ; we 
recall the pleasant visit at your house ; we recall several 
meetings here in Brooklyn. She was one whom once 
having met one does not easily forget. 

There was about her an atmosphere of cheer, of bright- 
ness, and of sympathetic kindness, which made any day 
memorable in which one may have met her. You do 
well to mourn her, yet you mourn not as those who have 
no hope. If any one ever ascended and lives in the roy- 
alty of love above, she has. Be sure that her love and 
tender sympathy for you are quickened in heaven. Our 
best qualities surely do not wither or wilt in heaven, and 
above all love does not decline or shrink. May the Com- 
forter sustain you and qualify you to join her. I am 
Your cordial friend, 

HE^s T RY WARD BEECHER. 

Brooklyn, N. Y., February 25, 1885. 
My Very Dear Friend : — 

Words are a very cold expression of the great sorrow 
all must feel who were so blessed and honored as to have 



96 

been known and loved by such a saint as Mrs. Smyth 
always seemed to me, and to you, my dear friend, they 
must seem cold indeed. None but the Blessed One can 
speak to your heart and bring any light to your desolate 
home ; but He has promised to be with His children in 
every sorrow. He, our blessed God and Saviour, has 
taken your heart's delight from you for a short time for 
some wise purpose, which, although we cannot know 
why at present, we shall surely know hereafter. This 
gracious Comforter will be with you, guiding you with 
loving hand through the remaining days of your earthly 
pilgrimage, until in His own good time he will call you 
up yonder, when she, the wife of your youth, the sweet 
companion and counselor of your riper years, will be the 
first, I firmly believe, to welcome you to that bright 
home, where sin and sorrow, pains and partings are 
unknown. Our hearts have been with you daily, and 
most deeply do we mourn with you for one of the truest 
friends and sweetest companions God ever gave. God 
be with you, speaking words of comfort and consolation 
to your sore heart, and in your loneliness may He give 
you to feel His presence, together with an abiding reality 
of her presence constantly bending over you ; for are not 
the spirits of the just ministering spirits, sent to minister 
to those who are the heirs, and who are yet to be the 
full possessors of that salvation our Saviour brought to 
man ? and will not she, of all the heavenly host, be the 
ministering spirit who shall ever be near you ? 



97 

My dear friend, I wish I could be any comfort to you ; 
but remember you will be ever cordially remembered 
by one who so dearly loved her who is not lost but gone 
before, and always, 

Most truly and affectionately, your friend, 

E. W. BEECHER, 

(Mrs. Henry Ward Beecher.) 



Concord, 1ST. H., Jan. 19, 1885. 
Hon. Frederick Smyth, — 

My Dear Governor : — In this hour of your deep affliction 
permit me to say, that although my acquaintance with 
Mrs. Smyth was an extended and happy one, yet her 
death brings especially to. my mind many pleasant and 
never-to-be-forgotten incidents of our delightful trip to 
Mexico in 1881. I can only touch upon some of its most 
prominent features, leaving other reminiscences to be 
preserved, as these will surely be, in the storehouse of 
your own grateful recollections, confident that as now, so 
hereafter, " it will give you pleasure to have remembered 
these things." 

Mrs. Smyth, in company with yourself, had, prior to 
going to Mexico, traveled extensively in the United States, 
and had also made several visits to the most interesting 
parts of the Old World ; yet how frequently she remarked, 
while in the land of the ancient Aztecs, that it was the 



98 

most delightful journey she had ever taken. While the 
hearts of all are filled with emotions of the keenest sor- 
row that God in His wisdom should terminate so unex- 
pectedly the earthly life of Mrs. Smyth, so overflowing 
with unmeasured activity and usefulness, yet we will all 
rejoice with a chastened gratitude that she lived to take 
the Mexican excursion, next to the last extended one of 
.her life. 

As you well remember, after a delightful visit at New 
■Orleans, where we mingled in the festivities of the carni- 
val season, and witnessed those gorgeous and almost 
bewildering night pageants, that you pronounced far 
more wonderful than anything you had seen on similar 
occasions in Home, we started southward for that land of 
story and romance, where the feathery foliage of the palm 
outlines itself against a tropical* sky, and where summer 
is perpetual. In departing we regretted to separate from 
ex-Gov. Benjamin F. Prescott, who had been with us 
in our enjoyments in the Crescent City. It was a lovely 
trip of eighty miles by rail, past fresh, sweet fields of 
newly planted sugar-cane, and skirting far-extending 
savannas clothed in the deepest green of a semi-tropical 
spring, to Morgan City, where lay at anchor the steamer 
" Whitney," that was to bear us over the Mexican sea to 
the quaint city of Yera Cruz. Our voyage down the 
Atchafalaya was so quiet and restful that our ship seemed 
like a great white bird with wings outstretched to catch 
the perfumed breezes already coming in from the tropic 



99 

lands. Mrs. Smyth greatly enjoyed our first sunset on 
the quiet deep. The clear atmosphere of the early even- 
ing tinged with a purple shade, the brief twilight that 
followed the sinking sun, and then the glistening stars 
above, — all seemed to shed their tender influence over 
her susceptible nature, and at length she exclaimed : " It 
is so beautiful ! — everything , seems to promise a happy 
journey for us all." 

G-alveston was the only port our steamer made during 
the trip. Among those who came on board there, were 
Major-General Edward 0. C. Ord, and his son, James T. 
Ord. The former was known to you, Governor, person- 
ally, while by high reputation we all knew the gallant 
old soldier as a graduate from West Point, as one of the 
bravest Union officers in the civil war, and as late com- 
mander of the department of Texas. He was father-in- 
law of General Geronimo Trevino, the Mexican cabinet 
minister of war and marine, and after being crowned 
with years and military renown, was placed on the retired 
list of the United States army. He was as modest and 
unaffected in his deportment as a child, and extremely 
lovable for all those noble qualities that united to make 
him a true friend and a perfect gentleman. You will 
recall, Governor, when you presented yourself to him, 
how kind and cordial were his thanks to you for renewing 
the acquaintance. When you mentioned to him the fact 
of Mrs. Smyth's being with you, he at once asked to be 
presented to her, and upon being introduced warmly 



100 

shook her hand and remarked, "What a charming party 
we have for Mexico ! " From that moment until we left 
the city of Mexico for Havana, the close friendship of 
General Ord for yourself and Mrs. Smyth, together with 
the many kind courtesies extended hy himself and son, 
must have been a constant and unalloyed pleasure and 
satisfaction. The four days of the voyage from Texas to 
Vera Cruz were like sweet passages in happy dreams. 
From the moment the low sandy shores of the Lone Star 
State faded from view, till the morning when the gray 
walls, towers, and domes of La Villa Rica de la Vera 
Cruz — " the rich city of the true cross " — rose to our 
vision, our journey over the blue deep was a succession of 
unclouded days, with the heat tempered by the trade 
winds, and clear still nights with lambent stars and planets 
reflected in the clear waters of the gulf. After leaving 
Galveston not a vessel crossed our track ; but the ship's 
agreeable company kept every one from experiencing any 
feeling of loneliness, and it will not be invidious to state 
that no one seemed so ready to plan and do for the hap- 
piness of others as Mrs. Smyth. 

A most pleasing incident occurred near the end of our 
voyage. In many countries reached by water prominent 
objects serve as beacons to attract the attention of return- 
ing pilgrims anxious to see again their native land, or of 
travelers eager to obtain their first view of strange shores. 
Mexico has such a signal in Orizaba, which, according to 
Humboldt, is the highest elevation in the world that rises 



101 

abruptly, with no foot-hills, from the plain. Mrs. Smyth 
had read of this wonderful mountain, and of the lasting 
impression the first view of it produced centuries ago 
upon Cortes, and when far out from Vera Cruz she be- 
came deeply interested in it. She had hoped to see it 
first by daylight, and her wish was gratified. On the last 
evening of the voyage Captain Henry informed her that 
the ship was gradually nearing the coast. The gray 
dawn of the next morning had not fairly broken before 
she had arisen and begun her watch. The captain kindly 
gave her the points of compass, and in a few minutes 
she, the first to make out the signal, exclaimed with all 
the enthusiasm of a child, " That is Orizaba, and there 
is Mexico ! " In a short time all the passengers had 
gathered on deck to witness the sublime spectacle. 
Mist concealed the shore and the adjacent country, but 
in the far distance, many hundred feet above the sea and 
the clouds, with a background of violet-colored sky, 
stood Orizaba, majestic and impressive, silent and pas- 
sionless, and with its summit enveloped in the purest of 
eternal snow, that had already begun to be glorified and 
transfigured with the ruddy light of the newly risen sun. 
ISTo one who witnessed that enchanting transformation 
scene can ever efface it from the memory. Had anything 
prevented Mrs. Smyth from completing the trip, she 
wou^ld reverently have regarded the sight of that moun- 
tain as an ample recompense for the journey. 

It was at the embarking at Vera Cruz that General 



102 

Ord demonstrated in a marked, practical manner, his 
kind regard for Mrs. Smyth and yourself. In the early 
morning a boat belonging to the Mexican revenue ser- 
vice came along side the " Whitney" as she lay at 
anchor in the roadstead. It brought a reception com- 
mittee representing the Mexican government and the 
city of Vera Cruz, and included Colonel Pabla Ortega of 
General Tre vino's staff, Hon. Manuel Fernandez, M. D.,. 
supervisor of customs, Colonel Jose Cortes of the eigh- 
teenth battalion of infantry, and others who had come to 
extend a welcome to General Ord. After the exchange 
of international courtesies, General Ord and son were 
invited to go ashore in the government vessel. This dis- 
tinguished soldier, however, made no preparations to 
land until Mrs. Smyth and yourself had not only been 
invited but urged to accompany him, and when, after 
some misgivings on the score of possible intrusion you 
accepted his proffered favor, you at once became, as 
friends of General Ord, guests of the republic of Mexico. 
Of the magnificent banquet tendered to General Ord at 
the princely residence of Hon. Francisco de Landero, the 
Mexican minister of finance, I am sure, Governor, that 
you cherish pleasant recollections, for on that occasion 
Mrs. Smyth was the only lady invited , and it is safe to 
say that, in the annals of that grand historic city, the 
place from which Cortes and his soldiers started out on 
his remarkable military expedition, no American woman 
had ever been so highly honored. Among those pres- 



103 

ent, in addition to the gentlemen who tendered the 
welcome to General Ord, were General Enlalio Vela, 
comandante militar de la plaza, Colonel R. Martinez, 
of the twenty-fifth battalion, Colonel J. M. Rose of the 
eighteenth battalion, and Colonel A. Maranon, — all from 
the garrison at Vera Crnz ; Hon. Sebastian A. Barcena, 
collector of the port; Manuel Rojas, Guillemo A. Esteva, 
Gustavo A. Esteva, and the mayor of the city. The ban- 
quet, in the necessary absence of Minister Landero at 
the capital, was in charge of his brother, Hon. Pedro 
de Landero, M. D., and was carried out with the ele- 
gance and profuse display that always characterize the 
hospitality of wealthy and refined Mexican gentlemen. 
There was an elaborate and expensive menu, many of 
whose dainty dishes were unknown to the American 
visitors, with sparkling and brilliant addresses in both 
Spanish and English. Your own remarks, in answer 
to a sentiment to the state of which you had been twice 
elected chief magistrate, were translated into Spanish by 
General Ord, and received with merited applause. The 
response, by the nephew of Minister Landero, was most 
fittingly made, and in closing he turned to " Signora 
Smyth " and complimented her in glowing words, ex- 
pressing the hope that she would be pleased with Mexico 
and favored with a most pleasant journey, and that all 
who should have the privilege of meeting her would ex- 
tend the same large measure of respect and love which 
he wished her to accept from the people of Vera Cruz. 



104 

In return, Mrs. Smyth could only bow her grateful 
acknowledgments. At four o'clock in the afternoon the 
special train, in charge of Hon. E. W. Jackson, general 
manager, having on board the military guard of honor 
that had been in waiting for General Ord and his friends, 
rolled out of the Vera Cruz station, and with loving 
memories of music and softly falling waters, of gardens 
and groves of orange and palm, the Americans resumed 
their journey towards the city of Mexico. 

No one could possibly have enjoyed that part of the 
journey more than Mrs. Smyth. For the first few miles 
the railway route is over the tierra caliente, with its rank 
and almost overpowering tropical growth, and afterwards 
it begins to climb the eastern Cordilleras, where we ob- 
tained our first near view of mountain scenery, which in 
grandeur and sublimity surpasses anything of the kind in 
America. Coffee plantations shaded with the generous 
foliage of the banana, flowering forests with their bril- 
liant orchids almost dazzling the eye, were succeeded by 
sharp gradients, and later, a temperature fast falling to 
the tierra-te?nplada point. 

Among the most surprising and impressive scenes on 
the line are the weird and sublime barrancas of Metlac 
and the Inner nillo, and the idyllic valley of Maltrata 
among the mountains ; and, before reaching the latter, 
we look down upon its village from the dizzy height of 
three thousand feet. At Orizaba, Hon. Thomas Braniff, 
the managing director of the English railway, who had 



105 

sent his elegant and official private car to Yera Cruz on 
a special train, joined the party. As night approached, 
Mrs. Smyth began to experience some fatigue, which 
General Ord and Mr. BranifF being quick to observe, at 
once gave her the exclusive use of the director's carriage, 
— Mr. Braniff pleasantly remarking that it was the same 
whose service he tendered to Gen. Grant on his first visit 
to Mexico, it being the highest compliment in the power 
of the railway company to bestow. A fine supper was in 
waiting at Esperanza, where a short rest was taken. 

Toward midnight a cold wind swept down the sides 
of the mountains, and ~New England winter clothing 
was required to render one comfortable. The military 
officers from the capital were unprepared for so great a 
change in the temperature, and Mrs. Smyth, observing 
that they were not provided with overcoats, immediately 
opened her luggage, and, taking out her extra seal coat, 
placed it on Colonel Ortega's shoulders, and handed her 
wraps to the other officers, none of whom could find 
words sufficient fully to express their gratitude for her 
kindness. At Saltepec the railway reaches an altitude of 
eight thousand two hundred and twenty-four feet above 
the sea. Soon we had our first view of the magnificent 
southern cross, that wonderful clock-work of the heavens, 
climbing the blue vault of the distant sky. Early in the 
morning we enjoyed a splendid view of the volcanoes 
Orizaba, Ixtaccihuatl (the white woman), and Popocata- 
petl (the smoking mountain), with their serene peaks 



106 

mantled with perennial white, while scarcely a mile away 
were the pyramids of San Juan Teotihuacan, " the habi- 
tations of the gods." At length the train arrived at 
Buena Vista station, music burst forth from a military 
band, people crowded about the cars to get a glimpse of 
the American visitors, and strange sights and scenes 
were about us, for we had reached the city of Mexico. 

Grateful memories of happy days, Governor, that were 
passed in the old capital of the Aztecs, must be written 
in your heart as they certainly were in that of Mrs. Smyth, 
whose enjoyment of them was so great, whose genial and 
loving presence, like a constant benediction, brightened 
every hour, and whose winning and sympathetic ways 
gained her a multitude of friends in that distant land. 
When the guest of distinguished officials, as she frequently 
was, she charmed all, no less by her striking figure and 
refined personal attractions, than by the marked simplicity 
in all her tastes and habits. During her morning walks, 
it was a frequent occurrence for poor Mexican children to 
bow graciously to the American lady whose radiant face 
seemed a reflection of a loving heart. 

Although our stay in that city was not a long one, yet 
Mrs. Smyth was so eager and earnest to visit, so far as 
possible, its many entertaining scenes and localities, that 
but little of interest escaped her. She went out to the 
village of Guadalupe, through which we had passed by 
train, where the treaty of peace was signed after the war 
between Mexico and the United States, and saw its his- 



107 

toric and legendary church, its healing spring, and its 
hillside chapel ; glided down the canal La Vega, and 
went through the " Floating Gardens," which supply the 
flower and vegetable markets of Mexico, the former the 
most diversified and wonderful in the world; passed her 
evenings in the Zocola, under the shadows of the grand 
old cathedral, listening to the fine music of the military 
band, or in the more quiet scenes of El Gran Tivoli de 
San Cosme; spent an afternoon at the castle Chapulte- 
pec, where Maximilian and Carlotta made their home for 
a time, but which is now the Observatorio Nacional, and 
stood under el arbol de la noche triste, — " the tree of the 
sorrowful night," — where so brave a man as Cortez sat 
down upon a stone and wept for his lost soldiers. The 
cemeteries of Mexico seemed to have a peculiar fascination 
for Mrs. Smyth. Their quiet seclusion, their profuseness 
of tropical flowers and shrubbery, their numberless touch- 
ing mementos of departed dear ones, the beauty and ele- 
gance of many of their memorials, and the tender and 
loving associations that Mrs. Smyth realized must linger 
about them, made a deep impression upon her. The 
American and English inclosures, the Panteon Frances, 
the Dolores, a favorite burial-place of the aristocracy, and 
the San Fernando cemetery near the Alameda, seemed to 
possess the greatest interest for her. In the latter is the 
tomb of Juarez, the father of Mexican liberty, in the 
shape of a magnificent Grecian temple, with marble fig- 
ures, all the work of Islas, a distinguished native sculptor; 



108 

also the graves of Commonfort, Zaragoza, and Guerrero, 
three of the republic's great heroes, and the sad resting- 
place of Miramon, an imperial general who was shot at 
the side of Maximilian at Queretaro. Of the side trips 
which you took, accompanied by Mrs. Smyth, perhaps 
the most notable was that to beautiful Puebla de los An- 
geles, the " City of the Angels," whose cathedral and 
churches are second only to those of the capital, and 
which possesses great historic interest from its being the 
scene of the decisive victory won by the Liberal army 
under General Zaragoza over the French, May 5, 1862. 
Your short excursion from Puebla out to the pyramid of 
Cholula, which in breadth of base and some other feat- 
ures is the most remarkable yet discovered in the world, 
proved one of the most entertaining which you took in 
Mexico. It was at Puebla where Mr. Blumenkron, an 
American by birth and formerly United States consul in 
that city, showed you numerous kind attentions. 

I recall many persons in the city of Mexico who ex- 
tended almost countless courtesies to Mrs. Smyth as well 
as to yourself, and most especially should be mentioned 
General Ord, General and Mrs. Trevino, the latter be- 
fore marriage Miss Bertie Ord, whose recent death car- 
ried sorrow to many hearts, and Manager Director Braniff 
and General Manager Jackson of the Vera Cruz railway. 
To these should be added Rev. H. Chauncey Riley, D. D., 
bishop of the valley of Mexico, Rev. J. W. Butler, D. D., 
General John B. Frisbie, Hon. P. H. Morgan, United 



109 

States minister, General D. H. Strother, United States 
consul, and J. Mastella Clarke, the accomplished editor 
and publisher of the " Two Republics," whose kind offices 
were most fully appreciated. These and many others 
in that city must have been deeply pained at the intelli- 
gence of Mrs. Smyth's death. 

I will close this already long letter, Governor, by re- 
calling two occurrences on the Sunday preceding the 
date of your departure for Havana. In the afternoon, as 
you will at once recall, we strolled from our hotel, the 
celebrated Iturbide, formerly the palace of the emperor 
of that name, down San Francisco street. The sun was 
nearing the horizon, and its golden light resting, as if in 
loving farewell, upon the snow-clad summits of Popocat- 
apetl and Ixtaccihuatl ; the sweet scent of orange blos- 
soms was wafted on the ambient air, and away out on 
the Calzada, the magnificent boulevard built under the 
personal direction of " Poor Carlotta," was a long line of 
carriages containing the wealth and fashion of the city, 
on their evening drive to Chapultepec. By chance we 
observed the lovely entrance to the Episcopal cathedral, 
the passage to which was almost hedged in by beds of 
luxuriant flowers, while on the right was an old convent 
wall, which to the height of more than thirty feet was 
nearly hidden from view by thick masses of heliotrope 
and other clinging vines. Entering, we found ourselves 
in what was formerly one of the most costly of the Roman 
Catholic churches of the city. It was one of those which 



110 

had been confiscated by the Liberal government and pur- 
chased by the Episcopalians, mainly through the efforts 
and generosity of Bishop Kiley. Although the original 
furnishings and portions of the ornamentation had been 
removed, yet its grand and impressive architecture re- 
mained. We found no one present but the sacristan, 
who kindly welcomed us. After going over the building, 
Mrs. Smyth, with marked seriousness, suggested that we 
should hold a service, and her wish was gratified as best 
we could. From the libro de oracion we read the Lord's 
Prayer and the apostle's creed, and then Mrs. Smyth, 
seating 1 herself at the organ, played and sang, accom- 
panied by yourself, that beautiful and favorite hymn of 
hers, which was so recently rendered at her funeral, 
beginning, — 

" Softly now the light of day 
Fades upon my sight away." 

As the notes of her sweet voice ascended into the dim 
vault above, listening birds in the cathedral roof caught 
the music of the hymn, and poured out their joyful re- 
sponse. As we walked slowly homeward, our own sub- 
dued hearts revealed to us that we had tarried where 
everything must have been glorified by the Master's 
presence. 

In the evening Mrs. Smyth's parlor at the hotel was 
filled with kind friends, who assembled to bid her and 
yourself good-bye, and who left a table covered with floral 



Ill 

offerings. One remarked that her trip had been so pleas- 
ant that she must make a second visit, but there was a 
saddened expression on her face when she answered : 
"Life is uncertain ; I am afraid I shall never see Mexico 
again." Perhaps even then she may have had a pre- 
monition that she had not many years to live, while in 
her heart may have been the words : — 

" I hear a voice you cannot hear, 
Which says, I must not stay; 
I see a hand you cannot see, 
Which beckons me away." 

In conclusion, permit me to make mention of General 
Ord's sad death from yellow fever at Havana, while on 
his way back to the United States. Had he lived, he 
would have written much better than I have done con- 
cerning Mrs. Smyth's visit to Mexico. Tendering you, 
my dear Governor, my most heartfelt sympathy, I remain, 
Ever sincerely, your friend, 

J. E. PECKER. 



Washington, February 26, 1885. 
My Dear Friend: — 

I have not ventured hitherto to intrude upon your 
great grief, but I am sure you will allow me to tender 
my sincerest sympathy with you. I know your loss 
must seem irreparable. I was permitted as your guest 



112 

to see how completely your own life and the life of Mrs. 
Smyth were merged as one, and I know your affliction 
is immeasurable. I pray that God will give you strength 
to bear it, and that your own useful life, even if its chief 
joy be taken out of it, will long be spared to your friends 
and to your state. Most sincerely yours, 

JAMES G. BLAIKE. 



February, 1885. 
Ex-Gov. Smyth, — 

Dear Sir: — That we sympathize with you in your 
great sorrow I need not assure you. It is our sorrow, 
. in a far less degree. Our feelings are so deeply moved 
that it is difficult, almost impossible, to tell you the things 
Mrs. Smyth and I used to talk about in our drives, as 
you wished me to do. Every day I think of her words 
as well as of her doings. One day riding on the Mam- 
moth road, as we passed the place where the lovely child 
of Mr. Fogg used to greet you, she said you were quite 
interested in him, and took it sorely to heart when he 
was taken so suddenly from the loving arms of his par- 
ents. She said : " How hard it is to understand ! how in- 
comprehensible it all is ! " I quoted Watts : — 

" Deep in unfathomable mines 
Of never-failing skill, 
He treasures up his bright designs," 

She finished the quotation 'with — 

" And works his sovereign will." 



113 

" If one is rationally submissive they may see ; if they 
do not here, they will by and by." 

" Then," I said, " you think there is comfort in sub- 
mitting ? " She bowed her head. 

Juliette would stop now and then. Mrs. Smyth said, 
"When Frederick and I are riding, he stops often to 
look in among* the tangled vines, drawing in sweet breath 
from the pines." Sometimes you would get out of the 
carriage and gather the ferns and wild flowers that grew 
in a little way from the roadside. One place in particular 
Juliette kept looking around as though she expected 
Mrs. Smyth to get out. " You may go along, Juliette, 
they have spoiled the place;" and to me she said, " We 
can't expect all things to remain perfect for us." 

One day she was entertaining me with an account of 
her visit with you to the Nevada silver mines, going down 
on an elevator not more than four feet square, four of 
you standing erect, down, down, down, into the bowels 
of the earth, — very dark and very warm, growing more 
so till you came to a large room, where you breathed a 
little freer. I asked, " How did you feel ? What were your 
thoughts ? " Over all else, " I shall be with him." It 
was not, we shall be together, but " I shall be with 
him ; " and, do you know, this seems like a thrilling proph- 
ecy to me now. How many years you had her with you 
till flesh and strength failed ! then our Father who gave 
took her to himself, — a bright and beautiful soul freed 
from the infirmities which made it impossible for her 



114 

longer to minister. O be glad with a thankful heart 
that you had her so long ! 

A lady friend of mine was bereft of a beautiful daugh- 
ter (some little ones had gone before). An acquaintance 
said to her, " She had better been taken in infancy." 
"0, no," said the weeping mother, "I am glad I had her 
so long ; the sweet memories of her happy childhood and 
her joyous youth, her sweet confidences, her truth, — all 
are to be treasured in the coming years as something 
sacred." 

We cannot help mourning for our beloved, but we 
must not mourn as those without hope. 

You said to me : " Mrs. Paige, I had an angel in the 
house at my side, and knew it not." You did know it ; 
but, like the beautiful Antoine, in the ministry of life 
you did not botanize. 

You cannot reproach yourself; there is no reproach 
for you. You lived for her ; surrounded her with every 
thing that was beautiful that she loved ; you were good 
to all that belonged to her. Now try to take comfort in 
the things which were a comfort and a lifting up to her. 
Think of her as with you now, directing, leading, quiet- 
ing, — yes, quieting is the word. 

I must tell you of a talk we had one day as we were 
driving to the cemetery. I thought she rather avoided 
that route and said, " I am not particular ; I will go any 
where you like, of course. I shall get the sweet air away 
from the dusty street." (I had asked her to go that way.). 



115 

Mrs. Smyth seemed embarrassed, as though she wanted 
to say something and hardly knew how to say it to me. 

I said, " Faithful are the reproofs of a friend." "Not 
reproofs," she replied, " but I am afraid you look into 
the grave too much." She looked straight ahead; I can 
see her now just as she looked then. A little silence, then 
she spoke the words , " She is not there ; " and looking 
down at me she said, " I am relieved." Then we talked 
as we had never talked till then of the blessed reunion, 
made possible through a risen Saviour. I was glad, I 
am glad always for the testimony given and received that 
day. I was sick then, she in perfect health, apparently. 
Little did we think of the one that should be taken and 
the other left, or that in eight short months after I should 
stand over the spot where she lay entombed and breathe 
a prayer for the loved she left. 

If she had known and been able to tell you in her dy- 
ing hour how strong her faith was in a crucified Christ,, 
it would doubtless be a comfort to you ; if she had told 
you how to live, it could only have been in a general way ; 
it might have been darker. You have the light of her 
glorious life to illumine your way. Rest in that light ; 
cast no shadow ; believe and trust in God your Father, 
and in His good time an enduring mansion will receive 
you both. 

With deep respect yours, 

(Mrs.) H. C. PAIGE. 



116 

Consulate of the United States 



Malaga, February 26, 1885. 
My Dear Governor : — 

Last night we were shocked on receiving two papers 
from £s"ew Hampshire containing the sad news of the 
death of your dear good wife. It seems difficult to realize 
that the cheery voice that bade us such hearty welcome 
to your ISTew Hampshire home is stilled forever. You 
may have friends of longer standing than ourselves, but I 
feel I can assure you that no warmer sympathies will 
reach you, no deeper regrets for the good woman who 
made such an impression in so brief an acquaintance. 

It was one of the pleasures we had promised ourselves, 
on our return to America, to receive your hearty greet- 
ing, and claim for a brief moment the hospitality you 
both so generously tendered us. In such moments the 
sympathies of your friends must help you to bear your 
grief. Believe me, my dear governor, you have that of 
my wife and self. Very sincerely, 

H. C. MARSTEK 



Woodland Villas, Ince and "Wigan, Eng., 

February 25, 1885. 
My Very Dear Sir : — 

It is with the deepest and most sincere sympathy that 
I now write to you. There are sorrows in which no out- 
side spectator can enter; there are other sorrows into 
which all must feel a right to enter, and such, my dear 



117 

sir, is yours. No one could have met your dear wife, 
even for a short time, and not feel a blank when the news 
came of her death. Certainly I hut saw her for a few 
days, hut it was then, when weak and ill, she spoke to 
me e'en as a mother would. She cheered me up, and 
pointed to a bright future even here below. O, sir, 
those still days traveling eastward can never be forgotten 
by me, and in their pleasant reminiscences are the days 
spent in the company of your dear wife and self. Alas 
that she no longer lives to comfort you, and to shed rays 
of sunshine across the paths of others ! Still He knows 
best, the dear " "World Father." " Shall not the judge 
of all the earth do right ? Sorrow may endure for the 
night, but joy cometh in the morning." And it is to the 
God of all comfort that I commend you, knowing that 
He doeth all things well. In Jesus we have such a sym- 
pathizing Saviour, knowing all about us, remembering 
that we are but dust. That He may comfort you and 
cheer you now in your hour of trial, is my most sincere 
prayer and heart-felt wish. Dear Mrs. Smyth is better 
off; she now sees the King in that land afar off. Her 
prayers are now turned into praise, her cross exchanged 
for a crown; pain has ceased forever, and in the full joy 
of peace is the rest with God in heaven. 

With my prayers and heart-felt sympathy, in which 
my wife joins, I remain, dear sir, 

^ Yours sincerely, 

THOMAS TAYLOR. 

(Curate of Ince.) 



118 

Smyrna, Turk., March 13, 1885. 
My Dear Brother : — 

We cannot imagine you apart from the dear wife 
whom the Lord has taken to himself, and hence we think 
of you both as being together, though not in the body 
jet in the spirit. You have been so united in God's 
love and in that of each other, that not even death can 
separate you. She has only gone a little before you to 
the heavenly place, where you will again meet never to 
part. There will be no pain, no tears, no sin, but all 
will be peace and joy and a glorious forever. I know 
you will mourn for the separation, but even in this you 
will have the sympathy of Him who wept at the death 
of His friend and the tears of his sisters. Jesus sympa- 
thizes with the afflicted as well as with those who rejoice. 
When we lost our only boy I groaned and wept, but the 
Lord told me, that unless I become as the little child I 
shall never enter his kingdom. Thus the greatest sor- 
row had become a comfort, and I looked not to the dust 
but to heaven, and am comforted in my affliction. 

Your dear wife belonged to those positive and impressive 
characters that command respect so completely at the 
outset that one never stops to think what are the ele- 
ments which constitute such a character. They are like 
the morning light, so cheery and refreshing in its influ- 
ence, so completely awakening the soul's admiration, that 
one never thinks of subjecting it to a prismatic analysis 
in order to discover the wonderful colors of which it is 



119 

composed. Outside of those who knew and observed 
her in her every-day life, probably few can name the 
specific elements of her character, though none may deny 
its wonderful influence upon himself. I recall the quiet, 
dignified enthusiasm she manifested for the beautiful in 
art when I first met with her among the ruins of ancient 
Athens, the suppressed delight indicative of a cultivated 
intellect controlled by a modest soul. 

The freshness with which she spoke of special objects 
she had seen in Athens when I met her again at your 
own residence in Manchester, was almost a surprise. 
She has impressed me as a woman of much thought, and 
yet as one whose thoughts were expressed more in acts 
than in words, and I carry in my mind impressions rather 
than expressions, though her cordial hospitality to me 
and mine, and her generous sympathy for the work in 
which we are engaged, are among the expressions that 
shall never be forgotten. 

May the dear Lord comfort you, and bless and sanctify 
this severe affliction to you, is the prayer of myself and 
wife. 

Sincerely yours in deep sympathy, 

GEORGE CONSTANTINE. 

(Missionary oi the American Board.) 

Dear Friend : — 

We received copies of your daily papers, and I have 
sent one to my daughters in Charlestown, and am sure 



120 

they will remember the sainted one as they saw her in 
Athens. Then I wish them to have her beautiful char- 
acter as a model before them. I recall with pleasure 
the first time I met your dear wife, a warm morning in 
1878, at the hotel in Athens. As we conversed about 
matters of interest to both of us, I was impressed by her 
good sense, her simplicity, her kindliness, and a certain 
majesty of presence which clothed all, making her seem 
the real woman, whom one could wish for a friend. 
Your short stay was soon over, and the next time we 
met was at her own beautiful home, when we responded 
to your own very cordial invitation that Ave should visit 
you in the autumn of 1880. Her warm welcome and 
thoughtful attention during those few lovely days will 
long linger in my memory, for they were especially help- 
ful at that time. As we walked back and forth on the 
bridge, with what interest, yea, with what pride, did she 
point out the improvements in the town, and tell me of 
the success of certain individuals. Then as we drove 
around the town, I remember she showed me this and 
that object, as if each were a part of herself, even to the 
trees along the streets. During those days we had many 
a quiet talk of her early life, of the responsibilities of 
later years, when she sometimes found herself suddenly 
brought face to face with a trying emergency, of her 
social relations with eminent persons as well as of the 
humbler but dearer ones. 

You may remember that charming drive across the 



121 

Merrimack and up the heights (I do not recall the name 
of the localities), how we hunted for chestnuts to send 
to our two little girls whom we had left in Charlestown ; 
and I was so happy as she said, when we passed a sum- 
mer boarding-house, beautifully situated on the top of a 
hill, " That will be just the place for your mother and 
your Hattie to pass the vacation. If they will come, I 
will do all I can for their comfort," — a promise of thought 
for our daughter when we should be thousands of miles 
away at our mission field. 

Again, when you passed by Smyrna in 1883, I had a 
glance at her pleasant face, and a few words of greeting 
and parting. We thought to see each other again in the 
dear home-land. Now she has only stepped across the 
border, beyond your vision, it is true, but you know our 
sight is very, very short, and there you will join her in 
a little while. Then not a shadow will ever mar the 
happiness of either. 

All this blessed hope of a glorious immortality we 
obtain by an atonement of our Lord. Are we not im- 
mense debtors to him ? 

Yours in truest sympathy, 
(Mrs.) AMANDA F. CONSTAJSTTINE. 



Englewood, K J., March 19, 1885. 
Dear Governor Smyth : — 

You have been much in my thoughts since your be- 
reavement, and often have I and my good wife conversed 



122 

about you and dwelt upon your situation. If there were 
anything in our power to do to alleviate the great sorrow 
that the good Lord in His own wise purpose has laid 
upon you, gladly would we put ourselves at your com- 
mand. 

But is it not a fact that as time wears on you find your- 
self more reconciled to the situation, and stronger to take 
up and carry forward the duties that daily press upon 
you ? Do not, dear friend, lose heart ; do not give your- 
self to too intense contemplation of the great loss that 
you have sustained. Rather rejoice that it was your good 
fortune to be blessed so many years with the companion- 
ship of such a noble woman as your wife. Treasure up 
the memories of the past, and hnd comfort in the thought 
that ere long, when you shall have reached your allotted 
term of life, you are sure of a blessed and unending 
reunion with the woman you loved so well here on earth. 
For one, I cannot doubt that in the higher world friends 
will recognize each other ; and while there may not be 
marriages and giving in marriage there, I am sure that 
the friendships sanctified on earth by holy love will be 
reestablished in heaven with an intimacy and exaltation 
far above and beyond what existed here below. I well 
remember how my mother's death (the closest relative 
I ever lost) affected me. My grief was great, but after a 
little I came to rejoice that the dear woman was safe 
in heaven, beyond all the trials and cares of this world; 
and the very fact that I had such a saintly guardian 



123 

watching over me became a constant incentive to higher 
aspiration and nobler effort. I believe that you will soon 
see the time when the presence on the shining shore of 
your own Emma will be to you a constant inspiration to 
the zealous and manly performance of the daily duties 
that lie in your path. 

Most cordially, your friend, 

SAMUEL A. DUNCAN. 



New York, March 25, 1885. 
Dear Governor Smyth : — 

We little thought when we bade you and your dear 
wife good-bye in Paris that we should never see her 
again, but are indeed thankful that we had those pleas- 
ant visits together. They are among our pleasantest 
memories, and now our hearts are aching for you in your 
sad bereavement. Pray accept from your friends what 
little comfort it is in their power to offer you in your 
terrible affliction, and allow it a little to assuage your 
grief that all must say ot your dear wife, — 

" None knew her but to love her, 
None named her but to praise." 

My daughters join me in adding their tribute of admi- 
ration for your wife, and wish me to convey their deep- 
est sympathy to you in your great trouble. 
Always sincerely yours, 

FANNIE E. HUNTINGTON. 



124 

Syrian Protestant College, Beyroot, 

March 25, 1885. 
My Dear Gov. Smyth : — 

We heard by the last mail of your great loss and of 
your dear wife's infinite gain. Earthly joys faded from 
your life, eternal joys beamed upon her life. Your sor- 
row must be great, greater than I can tell, for no one 
can measure such bereavement unless he has experienced 
the same. I have often thought that one could lose 
father, mother, brother, sister, or child, with less pain 
than he could lose his wife. It must be so in all true 
marriages, for "they twain shall be one flesh." May 
God bless and comfort you. Your dear wife is gone — 
into the other room. It is better furnished and has finer 
views than the one she left. The door is open, and she is 
waiting for you. 

We remember your two visits to Syria, in the years 
1878 and 1883, and with what interest Mrs. Smyth looked 
upon all of our missionary and educational work. We 
saw her for a short time only, but her sweet, beaming face,. 
her cordial, winning grace of manner, made us feel that 
we had known her for years. When you came the sec- 
ond time, we welcomed her as an old friend, and well 
remember how we wondered at and admired your bravery 
in going to visit the ruins of Damascus and Baalbec at a 
time when you, in consequence of some injury, could 
not put your foot to the ground, and how she playfully 
said, " O, yes ; he can- go anywhere with me to take 



125 



care of him." She was a true, noble, Christian woman. 
Mrs. Bliss joins me in warmest sympathy and love. 

Yours very truly, 

DANIEL BLISS. 

(President Syrian Protestant College, Beyroot.) 



The Manse Coggeshall, Essex, Eng., 

March 25, 1885. 
My Dear Sir: — 

We received some little time ago the newspapers con- 
veying the very sorrowful intelligence of your great and 
heavy loss. You have every consolation in reflecting 
on the past life of your distinguished and noble wife, and 
also the great comfort of knowing that she is with Christ 
and is there awaiting a blessed reunion with those who 
were dearest to her on earth. 

It seems hardly possible to realize that she has been 
called away, she seemed so healthy and full of vigor, 
both mental and bodily, when we had the pleasure of 
seeing her on the Nile. On bidding us farewell, she said 
with great earnestness, " Well, if we never meet again 
on earth, we shall meet in heaven." It is not a little 
singular that we were unconsciously very near to meet- 
ing her again on earth ; for we, Mr. Philps and I, were 
staying at the Prospect House this last autumn, within 
a week of the time, as I saw from the papers, you were 
at the White Mountains with your beloved wife. It 



126 

would indeed have been a great pleasure to have seen 
her once more, but that is never to be now. Had we 
known your address, or thought it possible we might 
have seen you, we should have written. Our stay in the 
States and Canada was very brief, but we came home 
profoundly impressed with some of the scenery, and 
especially charmed with the autumnal tints, which were r 
I understand, unusually fine this autumn. We were in 
the last steamer on Lake George, and nearly the last 
train up Mount Washington, and the hotels were all 
closing as we left. 

You were, I am sure, much gratified by the marks of 
respect shown by all classes to the memory of Mrs. Smyth, 
and she will long live in the affectionate remembrance 
of those to whom her influence and work have been such 
a blessing. 

That you may be supported and comforted in your 
very heavy and painful bereavement is our earnest hope. 

I cannot close without thanking you for this mark of 
kind remembrance in sending us the papers. The friend- 
ships arising from our travels have formed a very val- 
uable link with the New World, as well as with more 
distant parts of our own country. 

Mr. Philps joins me in kindest expressions of sym- 
pathy, and I remain, 

Yours very sincerely, 

ANNIE PHILPS. 

(Wife of Rev. Mr. Philps.) 



127 

Manchester, N. H. 
My Dear Friend : — 

A feeling of personal bereavement comes over me as 
I attempt to bring words of sympathy and consolation 
to your sad heart. I have compassion for yon because I 
mourn with you, and while the hunger of the heart can- 
not be satisfied but ever yearns for the touch of the 
familiar hand and sound of loving voice, yet we cannot 
but feel that "it is better to have loved and lost " than 
never to have known such a woman as she. Her mem- 
ory can never die ; her rare, beautiful character is still 
ours to cherish. Yes, it is only for ourselves we mourn. 

" For her there is no longer any future ; 
Her life is bright ; bright without spot it was 
And cannot cease to be ; no ominous hour 
Knocks at her door with tidings of mishap. 
Far off she is above desire and fear. 
Oh it is well with her ! " 

The thought comes to me, that if we, her friends, feel 
her loss so deeply, what must it be to her husband and 
companion, he who has been nearer to her than any 
friend, and who must miss more than all others her 
sweet presence and ever ready sympathy. 

My family join me in this message of condolence ; and 
that God may help you to bear this, the heaviest trial of 
your life, is the wish of 

Your sincere friend, 

IRENE S. PORTER. 



128 

Manchester, February, 1885. 
Governor Smyth, — 

My Dear Friend : — In your great trouble you have my 
heart-felt sympathy. To me Mrs. Smyth was the most 
lovely woman I ever knew, and all that a true friend 
could be. Far back in my childhood I remember her 
sweet face and cheerful words, and I think my life has 
been better and happier from having known her. None 
could go from her dear presence feeling sad or lonely. 
For all, both high and low, she had a kindly greeting. 
Her life was beautiful, and we, her neighbors, all loved 
her. You will see her ere long, my dear friend, more 
beautiful than ever, and be no more parted from her. 
God help you to bear your sorrow and to wait His time. 

Mrs. EMMA S. KIDDER. 



Dorchester, Mass., April 26, 1885. 

Thanks, my dear friend, for your call. What a pity 
that we did not meet ! I know how to sympathize with 
you in your great bereavement. It seems hard, but God 
knows what is best for us. He cannot err, and ere long 
we shall join our departed friends in that better land, 
where disease and death can never come. 

As ever, yours, 
MARSHALL P. WILDER, 
Hon. Frederick Smyth. 



129 

Governor Smyth : — 

Permit us, clear Governor, to express our deep sym- 
pathy with you in your great trial, and to hope that 
the grace of God will sustain and cheer you in the dark 
hours which come to all hearts so bereft. 

Most sincerely, 
Your friends and obedient servants, 

A. P. TASKER, Pres. Y. M. C. A. 
W. T. PERKINS, General Secretary. 



Melrose, Mass., April 28, 1885. 
My Dear Friend : — 

The sad tidings of Mrs. Smyth's death have reached 
me at a late day. I have passed the winter in the West, 
and the newspaper accounts of her decease and obsequies, 
which were forwarded me, failed to reach me. Only 
since my return have I learned how heavy a bereavement 
you have suffered in the loss of the rare woman whose 
companionship blest your life. 

I have been reading the sad details of her illness and 
burial with a heavy heart, for she had become very dear 
to me. Ever since my acquaintance with Mrs. Smyth, 
anticipation of a visit to Manchester, on any errand, was 
coupled and brightened with the expectation of meeting 
her. She was like a friend of early years in the beati- 
tudes of her welcome and the largeness of her generous 



130 

hospitality. My very last visit with her was the most 
interesting, and was one which I shall always remember. 
It was less than six months prior to her departure. You 
were absent from home, and we talked late into the 
night. I do not know that she had any premonition of 
her approaching illness and death, for she said nothing 
that indicated it. But if she had foreseen it, if she had 
known that at that very moment she was standing within 
the shadow of the dark valley, our conversation could not 
have been very different ; for our theme of discourse was 
that always thrilling and interesting topic, " The immor- 
tal life." 

She told me something of her early life, of her strug- 
gles in the past, and then of the friendless and the help- 
less and dependent people to whom she gave much 
thought and help. 

" But what I do is as nothing, there is so much to be 
done," was her concluding remark, " and I sometimes 
grow discouraged in my efforts to help people." This 
led me to remark that we could never know the mighty 
help we rendered each other until we stood revealed to 
one another in the clear light of the great hereafter ; and 
then we wandered off into a wondrously interesting talk, 
in which we theorized and speculated concerning the 
future, our theories taking color and direction from that 
prose poem of Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, " Beyond the 
Gates." 

I remember how charmed she was with a little poem 
of Chadwick's which I quoted to her, and which she 



131 

made me repeat a second time. Let me quote it here, 
my dear friend, for there is a world of comforting sugges- 
tion in it. 

" As when the friends we dearly love 

Have gone beyond the sea, 
The far off lands in which they bide 
More real yet to be; 

So when our loved ones once have crossed 

Death's lone and silent sea, 
And in a country new and strange 

Found immortality, 

The heavenly land in which they dwell, 

Which erst did ever seem 
An unsubstantial pageant vast, 

A dreamer's idle dream, 

Becomes as solid to my soul 

As is the earth I tread, 
What time I walk with reverent feet 

The city of the dead. 

Not Europe seems so real to me, 

The Alps not so eterne, 
As that dear land for which at times- 

My heart doth inly burn. 

And not more sure am I that they 

Whom ocean's waves divide, 
Will meet again some happy day 

And linger side by side, 

Than that the day shall surely come 

When we, and all we love, 
Shall meet again, and clasp, and kiss,. 

In that dear land above." 



132 

Death is but a circumstance in a life that is unbroken. 
And, my friend, your beloved wife has only learned the 
lessons and mastered the tasks of the first school of the 
soul in advance of us, and so has received an earlier pro- 
motion to that higher school where the lessons are nobler, 
the tasks grander, and where the great Master himself 
becomes the heavenly instructor. There her loving heart 
may indulge to the full its kindliness ; there joy will be 
duty and love will be law. There her love of the beau- 
tiful shall have perfect development ; her spirit of help- 
fulness shall find scope as she becomes a ministering 
angel to those whom she has preceded to heaven. 

Reasoning upward as we may from the supremest de- 
lights that crowned her life, we can but faintly conceive 
of her bliss in that higher life. All we can know or 
conjecture concerning it is as but the fringe on the bor- 
ders of a robe. Neither thought nor sense avails us in 
trying to pierce the impenetrable veil that has dropped 
between her and us. But if we had no higher assurance, 
we could trust the instincts of our hearts that all is well 
with her forever. For her, so unselfish and large-hearted, 
so loving and tolerant, so devout and reverent, so upright 
and helpful, the future holds naught that is harmful, for 
those are godlike qualities, that have in themselves beati- 
tude and immortality. 

So, my dear friend, do not mourn too deeply. You 
must miss her and cannot be otherwise than lonely, but 
remember only a hand-breadth of life and time separates 



133 

you from her. A year ago she and I rode together from 
Manchester to Rutland, Vt. Her errand to that city 
was a mission of mercy to a former employe, and that 
evening she put aside a great pleasure that enticed her 
that she might aid a poor woman. How her little army 
of dependents must mourn her ! What will God give 
them in her stead ! 

" God keeps a niche in heaven to hold our idols, and 
there we shall find them as we pass into that other 
chamber of the king, larger than this we leave, and- 
lovelier." 

Yours very truly, 

MARY A. LIVERMORE. 



Hyde Park, Mass., May 6, 1885. 
My Very Kind Friend: — 

Your coming was so like an angel's visit to-day, it 
completely unmanned and unnerved me. Not only your 
considerate and thoughtful kindness, hut the words of 
honorable remembrance of past labors and battles for 
the right, against slavery, intemperance, and other sins 
we fought together, moved me deeply. And then your 
touching allusion to the departure of that noble, intelli- 
gent woman ! God gave and has taken ; yes, she was 
His child. Above eulogy, — no praise can elevate her in 
your mind, no words can tell your loss or reveal your 
sorrow. Like a guardian angel she watched over your 



134 

rising prospects, and was never a hindrance but always 
the strongest aid you had. Now the Father has called 
her first, and left you to ripen so that you may be as 
ready to go as she. * * * * 

You will please accept our most sincere thanks and 
gratitude for your kind and short visit. Come again, and 
I will take a trip up to our blue hills and around, and 
we will talk of that glorious home and friends that never 
part, where all real worth is appreciated and rewarded. 
There shall you receive for your short aflhctions, " which 
are but for a moment, an exceeding and eternal weight 
of glory " for all you do suffer and grieve here in this 
world of sorrow. 

I remain in prayer for your comfort and peace in the 
great Comforter forever. 

Your brother, 

J. B. DAVIS. 

(Former pastor Freewill Baptist Church, Manchester.) 



Boston, May 29, 1885. 
Hon. Frederick Smyth, — 

Dear Sir : — I have thought I would write you ever 
since I heard of the terrible sorrow which has fallen to 
your lot, but knowing that you would have so many 
friends to offer sympathy I have refrained. I have 
remembered always the sympathy which you extended to 
me upon a like occasion ; and when I have looked back 



135 

upon the saddest day of my whole life, — the day of 
Major Fair's funeral, — I have seen you standing promi- 
nent in my little home, ready to offer me your heart-felt 
sympathy. When I read of the death of Mrs. Smyth, it 
did not seem possible that she was gone. I had not 
heard of her illness, and she always looked so well. She 
was a lovely person in every respect, and you seemed to 
be so happy together. * * * * You 

have my sincere sympathy in your lonely life, and if any 
one can know how to sympathize with you, it is myself, 
for the loss of Major Farr was a terrible one for his 
family. 

Very respectfully yours, 

ELLEJST B. FARR. 



Ocala, Fla., April 27, 1885. 
My Dear Friend : — 

It all comes to me at once, — your letter and my own 
sense of loss in the dispensation that has taken from our 
sight so rare a spirit. I can, this morning, write you only 
this word, as this mail closes in a few minutes. 

May God comfort you. But be sure your grief draws 
me nearer to you than ever before. 

Yours in memory and hope, 

JOSHUA L. CHAMBERLAIN. 

(Ex-Gov. of Maine.) 



136 

Newton, Mass, May 12, 1885. 
Ex-Gov. Smyth, — 

Dear Sir : — I watched the papers with deep anxiety 
when dear Mrs. Smyth was sick, hoping each day that 
the reports might be more favorable. But she could not 
be spared to us longer. She was fitted for higher, holier 
service, and the loving Father called her to the greater 
joy of that service. 

I was greatly pained when I learned that she was no 
more, — dear Mrs. Smyth ! Was she not for some time 
being made ready to go ? The last time I met her was 
last spring at the "Woman's Mission Board in Boston. I 
did not recognize her till she had kissed me and said, 
" Don't you know Mrs. Smyth ? " I always thought her 
beautiful, but there w T as a softness and sweetness and beauty 
of presence about her that I had never seen in her before. 
It seemed like a ripening for heaven. I thought of it 
much after I had parted from her, and when I heard that 
she had passed on to the better land, it came back to me 
so freshly ; and I said, " Yes, she was ripe for heaven ! " 
How much I should have liked to look upon the dear 
face again ! but that could not be. You have, I am sure, 
the heart-felt sympathy of all who knew and loved her so 
dearly, for we can understand in some degree the great 
loss you have sustained. I am, 

Very truly yours, 

Mrs. K E. JOKES. 



137 

Franklin, K H., June 13, 1885. 
Friend Smyth : — 

We thank you kindly for your letter just received. 
Since I saw you I have committed the mortal part of my 
good wife to the silent grave. The immortal soul, "the 
vital spark of heavenly name," is gone above, as we 
believe. Her sickness was long, and borne with much 
patience. Her death was finally calm and tranquil. Her 
faith and hopes were strong that she was about to 
exchange her home here for a " house not made with 
hands, eternal in the heavens;" therefore we believe 
our loss is her gain. * * * * 

Truly your friend, 

G. W. KESMITH. 

Bristol, N. H., June 11, 1885. 
Hon. F. Smyth, — 

My Dear Sir : — The very pleasant and agreeable 
acquaintance that I have had the pleasure of enjoying 
with you and your estimable wife for many years past, 
the very cordial greetings I have received from you both, 
whether at your home or abroad, had led me to feel that 
Mrs. Smyth and yourself held a very high place in my 
esteem, as among my most valued friends. 

I have often thought of you with your loved and loving 
companion, so happily united, with the prospect of many 
years of pleasant and agreeable life in your beautiful resi- 



138 

dence. You had the association of numerous friends, 
the respect and confidence of the community, and not an 
enemy to mar the peace or happiness of you or yours. 

I assure you, my dear sir, that the sad and startling 
news of the death of your very dear wife gave me a shock 
of mournful sadness, and was only consoled with the 
thought that while the body lay cold in the embrace of 
death, the spirit that had borne the image of the loving 
Saviour, with His lineaments divine, was enjoying that 
rest that remains for the people of God. 

"O let the soul her slumbers break ! 
Let thoughts be quickened aud awake, 

Awake to see 
How soon this life is past and gone, 
And death conies softly creeping on, 
How softly ! 

This world is but a rugged road, 
Which leads us to the bright abode 

Of praise above. 
So let us choose that narrow way, 
That leads no traveler's foot astray 

From realms of love." 



I feel that I am near the sunset of life,* soon to bid 
adieu to earth, but with bright prospects of a glorious 
immortality. May God bless and direct you for many 
years. 

K". S. BERRY. 

(* The venerable ex-Governor is in his 89th year.) 



139 

Concord, K H. 
Hon. Frederick Smyth, — 

My Dear Sir : — When the hand was laid heavily upon 
you, I had a strong desire to write you, but I thought 
others nearer to you would give you all the sympathy 
that mortals could render ; but I esteemed the treasure 
which you held as highly as any one, and I know that no 
greater grief can fall upon man than has fallen upon you. 
I hope that strength will be given you to bear the sepa- 
ration, and that you will look forward to the happy 
reunion that awaits you and your blessed wife in a " land 
that is fairer than this." 

Very sincerely yours, 

HENRY P. ROLFE. 



Concord, February 5, 1885. 
Hon. Frederick Smyth, — 

Dear Sir : — A sincere friendship ol many years presses 
me to a word of sympathy and condolence in view of the 
great bereavement that has fallen upon you. So many 
in all the highest walks of life so well knew and appre- 
ciated the rare womanly qualities of the now sainted 
companion, that you cannot need words from me to 
remind you of the breadth of her influence, and the gen- 
eral sense of loss in her departure to the scenes of the 
new and better life. Yet my recollections of the departed 
are peculiar. More than forty years ago, when she was 



140 

about twenty and you some twenty-two years old, I was 
first privileged with her acquaintance, and with sittings 
from both for miniature portraits on ivory in water col- 
ors. In trying then to delineate features aglow with 
youthful bloom, I found there was personality in " living 
soul " challenging artistic skill, as well as blooming 
physique. You now have the picture, and deem it 
precious. I hope it is a consoling souvenir. Of late 
years I have known her more intimately, and seen her 
ripen into the noble womanhood that commanded the 
admiration of her numerous friends. 

The cloud that comes over you is indeed dense and 
appalling ; but I pray God that it may yet open to new 
light. He only can give true comfort and support, and 
our feeble human words can only commend His mercies 
at last. 

With most cordial regards, 

Your friend, 
WILLIAM H. KIMBALL. 



IN MEMORIAM. 



Needless the task to " gild fine gold," 
Or paint a face whose features hold 
Beauty beyond our art, seeming to bear 
The wordless purity of prayer. 

Perfect she stood 
In every grace of noble womanhood, 
Peerless, alone ! And all the rarity 
Of faith she knew ; and Christian charity 

Dwelt within her breast. 
This was her life, — her earthly reign, — 
That could no more of beauty gain 

Than can the golden west. 

ARTHUR WHITNEY SMITH. 



143 



The sad, kind words written by so many friends in this 
little memorial volume may be fitly ended by quoting the 
appreciative and sympathetic notice from the pen of Col. 
John B. Clarke, in the Manchester " Mirror and Ameri- 
can " of January 14. 

In the death of Mrs. Smith the world loses one of its 
best types of womanhood, and Manchester one of its best- 
loved and most respected women ; a woman of whom it 
can be said without exaggeration, — 

" None knew her but to love her, 
None named her but to praise." 

She came here in the freshness and beauty of her girl- 
hood, and from that time until now she has gone in and 
out among our people, winning from all classes golden 
opinions, and carrying away captive the warm admiration 
and lasting affection of all who were fortunate enough to 
know her intimately. 

She was one of the best of wives. For years she was 
the constant companion, counselor, and support of her 
illustrious husband, and at all times and in all places, — 
in his early struggles, in his later triumphs, at his home, 
at the capitals of the state and nation, in this country and 
in foreign lands, — her devotion and unerring judgment 
and unfailing tact were his stay and support, as his suc- 
cess and happiness were her reward. She was good and 



144 

noble in every relation of life. Her lovely face, which 
seemed fashioned to wear a smile, rich in inspiration and 
encouragement, but reflected the excellences of a heart 
that was always tender and true. She had rare good 
sense, and the indescribable and irresistible tact which 
carries the weakness of woman to success where the 
strength of man fails. She was always unassuming, self- 
possessed, and charming. She could adapt herself to any 
circumstances, and was equally at home in the hovel, 
ministering to the wants of the humble poor, and in the 
palaces of nobles, reflecting and brightening the honors 
of her husband. She was a helpful woman in the com- 
munity ; her charity was watchful, untiring, and modest. 
In all good undertakings she was earnest, patient, indus- 
trious, and generous. She was a devoted Christian, and 
her faith shone in her works, — on the street as in the 
church, in her daily work as in her Sunday devotions. 
She was a peacemaker; she provoked no jealousies; she 
stirred up no strifes. She was a woman of the people : 
she despised none because they were poor ; she held her- 
self above none because they were not richly housed and 
clad. She had pity instead of contempt for the erring, 
and for the unfortunate of every class encouragement and 
help. In society she was a queen. She was a good sis- 
ter, a kind neighbor, and a faithful friend. She had no 
enemies. Her instincts were always pure, her words 
wise, and her acts discreet. Her influence was powerful 
and far-reaching, and it all went to make the world 



145 

brighter and ^better. It is such women that show us 
what earth might be and what heaven may be ; and when 
one is called hence, even though her mission has been 
grandly fulfilled, those who know how good she was may 
well mourn deeply and long. To her stricken husband 
and sorrowing relatives, the citizens of Manchester, sad- 
dened by a sense of personal bereavement, extend their 
heart-felt sympathy. 



Denver, Col., Jan. 28, 1885. 
Hon. Frederick Smyth, — 

Dear Sir : — I have just learned of your affliction, and 
wish to express to you my heart-felt sympathy. Mrs. 
Smyth was one of father's greatest friends, and has been 
very kind to me. I only regret that I was never so situ- 
ated as to become well acquainted with her. I have 
always known her as a friend, and feel deeply grateful 
for her frequent kind attentions. 

Sincerely yours, 

FRANK S. WOODBURY. 



Exeter, K H., Jan. 20, 1885. 
Dear Gov. Smyth : — 

Again I write to acknowledge a kindness on your part. 
On Saturday noon, a gentleman, whose name I do not 



146 

know, called at my boarding-place and asked to see me. 
He presented me with a pass from you, over the Concord 
& Portsmouth road, and told me that it was your desire 
that I should be present at your wife's funeral. I had 
heard of Mrs. Smyth's sad death, and I had almost de- 
cided to go up to Manchester to attend her funeral ; but 
your kind message quite decided me, and so I packed 
my valise and started, arriving at Manchester all safe 
and sound. 

As I knew that your mind was full of sorrow, I 
thought it best not to appear at your house, and so I 
spent the night down town. On Sunday noon I went 
around to the Franklin-street church, and after listening 
to the service I took my last look at dear Mrs. Smyth. 
At the grave, after the impressive service was finished, 
w r ith a heart full of sorrow and sympathy, I took my last 
leave of my friend, — for Mrs. Smyth was my friend ; she 
was always kind and pleasant to me, and I loved her as 
though she were a near relative. Knowing what sorrow 
you must feel, who have lost not only a friend but a com- 
panion and wife, I beg you to accept my heart-felt sym- 
pathy. I am only a boy, but a boy's heart is as big as 
other folks', and I assure you that the sympathy I offer 
comes straight from the heart. 

Your true friend, 

FREDERICK S. DTOTCAK 



LEAD, KINDLY LIGHT. 



" Lead, kindly Light ! amid the encircling gloom 

Lead thou me on ; 
The night is dark and I am far from home, 

Lead thou me on. 
Keep thou my feet ; I do not ask to see 
The distant scene ; one step's enough for me. 



So long thy power has blest me, sure it still 

Will lead me on, 
O'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent, till 

The night is gone; 
And with the morn those angel faces smile 
Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile. 



" Her name forever dear, 
Still breathed in sighs, 
Still uttered with a tear." 



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